Jorge Eduardo Arroyo-Pérez (born in San José in 1959) is a Costa Rican writer, playwright, opinion columnist, essayist, poet and theater director. He is currently Costa Rica's ambassador to UNESCO. The only author to receive four times the National Award in Theatre (Premio Nacional Aquileo J. Echeverría) (1996, 2003, 2004 and 2008), the most important recognition given to dramatists in Costa Rica. More than 40 of his plays have been staged in Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Bolivia and Brazil and he has been translated to Portuguese and English. He has fourteen published books and he is also part of the Drama contemporáneo costarricense (Contemporary Costa Rican Drama) . His creative and aesthetic approaches to theatre are varied, embracing a wide range of genres from comedy and drama to didactic texts, lavish postmodern spectacles and multitudinous historic recreations that have been presented in theatres, stadiums and huge open air venues. Theme-wise, he is also bountiful, but humorous wit and keen insight on his characters are common in all his work. He's the author of the first Central American postmodern play, the first Costa Rican play of gay theatre and has been recognized as the “most historian of Costa Rican playwrights”. He holds an abundant corpus of opinion columns, reports and essays published in national and international magazines and in Costa Rican newspapers during 35 years. His collaborations in newspaper columns and specialized magazines add up to hundreds of articles in La Nación newspaper and others and he has been praised as an anthropological journalist. He has also worked as an actor, cultural promoter and producer. Early life and education He was born in San José, Costa Rica in 1959, but he grew up in the province of Alajuela. Many Costa Rican customs and traditions that can be found throughout his work derive from the experiences acquired during this stage. He was an outstanding student in Escuela República de Guatemala, a public primary school. He received High School education in a private school ran by Spanish priests. In 1977 he enters Law School in the University of Costa Rica and two years later enrolled in the School of Dramatic Arts of that same university. He graduates in Dramatic Arts in 1982 and at the same time starts acting and winning, consequently, the National Award of best debutant actor of that year. Career Very early in his career Arroyo incurred into