Diaz has credited a 1992 experience seeing John Leguizamo's Spic-o-Rama at the Westside Theater in New York City as an early influence on his work as a Latino playwright.
[5] For Teatro Vista's 2008–2009 season, Díaz co-produced with Victory Gardens Theater for the world premiere of his play The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity.
[7] In 2017, Díaz received a Tisch School of the Arts Dean's Faculty Grant to conduct research at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics conference.
Also during COVID-19 shutdowns, in August 2020, Diaz collaborated on and directed a virtual reading of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity with the members from the original cast, including Justin Kirk.
Other plays include Things With Friends, Swag (or Fucking Vigwan), #therevolution, Guernica, Rebecca Oaxaca Lays Down a Bunt, and Going Left.
[19] The play is Diaz's most well-known, and like many of his works is set in New York City, and deals with aspects of popular culture, in this case focusing on wrestling.
Diaz wrote the full-length play Welcome to Arroyo's,[20] a hip-hop influenced comedy-drama about a Latinx family set in New York City's Lower East Side centered on themes of gentrification, authenticity, and individual obligation to culture.
The play premiered in 2015 at Goodman's Owen Theatre, and was directed by KJ Sanchez, with performances by Theo Allen, Sandra Delgado, and Tawny Newsome as the titular upstairs concierge.
In 2019, Diaz wrote the book for The Public Theater's Hercules, a stage adaptation of the 1997 Disney film, with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by David Zippel, and choreography by Chase Brock.