Elaine D Romero

Interests

Research

Playwriting, Screenwriting, Television Writing.WarArizona/Mexican BorderPublic PolicyGenderDiversityMaria Irene FornesYoga and creativity

Teaching

Playwriting, Scriptwriting, Dramaturgy, Latinx theatre, Diverse theatre

Courses

No activities entered.

Scholarly Contributions

Books

• Romero, E. D. (2015). Excerpts from Graveyard of Empires. The Best Men's Stage Monologues of 2016: Smith & Kraus.
  More info

  The book will feature two men's monologues from Graveyard of Empires out of 100 monologues.
• Romero, E. D. (2016). Bloody River. Smith and Kraus.
  More info

  Joan Herrington (Western Michigan University) commissioned “Bloody River” (based on “American Skin,”). Untitled Springsteen Play Anthology. Editor: Joan Herrington. New Hampshire: Smith and Kraus Inc. She has accepted my completed manuscript and she is awaiting word from her publisher.
• Romero, E. D. (2016). The Best Women's Stage Monologues of 2016. Smith & Kraus.
  More info

  Monologue book to feature women's monologue from Graveyard of Empires and A Work of Art.
• Romero, E. D. (2018). "The Power of Space" (Theatre and Cartographies of Power: Repositioning the Latina/o Americas). Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.
  More info

  Contributed essay on playwriting on the border,
• Romero, E. D. (2016). The Best Men's Monologues 2016. Hanover, NH: Smith & Kraus.
  More info

  Excerpts from Graveyard of Empires

Chapters

• Romero, E. D. (2025).

  Paris

  . In María Irene Fornés in Context. UK: Cambridge University Press. doi:https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009280396
  More info

  This edited collection includes my work about María Irene Fornés and her partner Harriet Sohmers during 1954. The materials include my short play, Harriet and Irene: Infinite Muses, about the couple.
• Romero, E. (2024). PERMISSION. In The Routledge Companion to Latine Theatre and Performance(pp pp. 78-82). London, UK: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781003229520-12
  More info

  In her play Permission, playwright Elaine Romero looks at a Latine playwright (Sara) embedded in a PWI, a university in the desert southwest. At the top of the play, Sara learns from her white department chair, Doug, that her play has been pulled from the season. It is revealed the decision is, in part, because Sara has attempted to write from an Anglo POV. The play explores which playwrights have permission to write from which points of view and tell which stories. The play reveals pieces of Sara’s personal history that have made white spaces challenging. Steeped in the world of the southwestern border, Permission looks at the position of an artist/academic in a predominantly white institution that struggles to include those it has invited to sit at the table. How does a Chicane artist/academic negotiate their space and their place in a PWI? When it comes to the rules of engagement on the southwestern border, who decides what’s right? In the end, Doug asks Sara for help in diversifying his season even though he has excluded her play.
• Romero, E. D. (2021). The Power of Space. In Routledge Anthology of Women's Theatre Theory and Dramatic Criticism. TBD: Routledge.
  More info

  Editors Ellen Gainor and Catherine Burroughs approached me to reprint my essay, "The Power of Space."
• Romero, E. D. (2014). The Power of Space. In (Re)Positioning the Latina/o Americas: Theatrical Histories and Cartographies of Power. Editors: Jimmy A. Noriega and Analola Santana.(p. 10). Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.
  More info

  "The Power of Space" was presented at the 2014 ATHE Conference.I submitted revisions to the editor December 24th 2015.
• Romero, E. D. (2015). Inheritance. In Crate Literary Magazine. Riverside, CA: University of California at Riverside.
  More info

  The play Inheritance has been accepted for publication. The journal is undergoing a title change, so will appear as the Santa Ana River Review

Journals/Publications

• Romero, E. D., & Garcia-Romero, A. (2016). "Expanding the Chair: A Conversation on Fornés's Pedagogy in Action". Theatre Topics, John Hopkins University.
  More info

  Both the co-author and I submitted articles on Fornes in a blind peer review process. We were invited to collaborate on the conversation and went through an editorial process, which was completed in Dec. 2016.
• Romero, E. D. (2017). Forbidden Points. 1111, 23, pp. 14-23.
• Romero, E. D., & Garcia-Romero, A. (2017). “Notes from the Field: Expanding the Chair: A Conversation about Fornés’s Pedagogy in Action". Theatre Topics.
• Romero, E. D. (2015). Should Latina/o Roles Be Cast with Non-Latina/o Actors?. Howlround.
  More info

  I was interviewed for this article. I've linked the article as some of the comments also cite me.

Presentations

• Romero, E. D. (2017, January, February 2017). La Esquinta, USA. Arizona Theatre Company Season. Tucson/Phoenix, AZ: Arizona Theatre Company.
  More info

  When a play was dropped from the season due to an issue with a co-production, I recommended this play, written by Ruben Gonzalez. I served as dramaturg on the production, advising Gonzalez on the play. Director, Kinan Valdez, regularly asked for in-put on direction. I handled panel discussions pre-show conversations, some of which I was able to hand off to one of our BA students.
• Romero, E. D. (2016, 03). The Fornes Frame Book Launch. Public Alumni Book Release Event. NY, NY: New Dramatists.
  More info

  Excerpts of my play Secret Things was presented at this book launch event with professional actors. The book features me as one of five Contemporary Latina Playwrights whose work speaks to the legacy of Maria Irene Fornes.
• Romero, E. D. (2016, 2016-03-30). Her Western Drama. AWP 2016 Conference and Books Event. Los Angeles Convention Center, LA: Association of Writers and Writing Programs.
  More info

  I spoke on a panel of playwrights from across the West. I read from my work and served on a panel.
• Romero, E. D. (2016, 2016-04-21). Barrio Stories. Confluence Center for Creative Inquiry Showcase. Student Union Grand Ballroom: Confluence Center for Creative Inquiry.
  More info

  Representing my team for the grant from the Confluence Center for Creative Inquiry, I gave a slideshow presentation at this annual event, detailing our experience in developing our site-specific project, Barrio Stories.
• Romero, E. D. (2016, 2016-08-11/14). ATHE: Performance Labor and ATHE @30. ATHE National Conference. Chicago, IL (Palmer House): Association for Theatre in Higher Education.
  More info

  I served on two panels, Sharing the Stage: Women Playwrights and Yoga for Playwrights, Designers, & Critics: Composing New Work through the Energetic Body.
• Romero, E. D. (2016, 2016-10-12). The Fornes Frame Book Launch. Book Launch. Chicago, IL: Chicago Dramatists.
  More info

  I served on a panel for the book The Fornes Frame, which features me as an author. Selections of my work was read Chicago top Latina actresses.
• Romero, E. D. (2016, 2016-3-14). The Fornes Frame. 2016 NOPE Conference. NYU: NoPassport and NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study.
  More info

  I Skyped into this panel at NYU, which included some of the playwrights, including myself, whose work was included in the new book, The Fornes Frame.
• Romero, E. D., Otero, L. R., Pinate, M., & Ortiz, M. (2016, 2016-02-10). Barrio Stories Project. Show and Tell @ Playground. Playground Bar and Lounge: Confluence Center for Creative Inquiry.
  More info

  Our team gave a public presentation in downtown Tucson in preparation for the Barrio Stories Project.
• Romero, E. D. (2015, Winter). Erosion. INTAR/One-Minute Play Festival. NYC: INTAR/One-Minute Play Festival.
  More info

  Invited to participate in this festival in NYC that included the country's top Latino writers.

Creative Productions

• Romero, E. D. (2025.

  Harriet and Irene: Infinite Muses

  . Fornesia Fest. NEW Skid Row Theatre, Seattle, Washington: Fornesia Fest.
  More info

  Stage presentation of my play (sole author) Harriet and Irene: Infinite Muses, directed by Rose Cano and included as part of the Fornesia Fest.
• Romero, E. D. (2025.

  Harriet and Irene: Infinite Muses

  . Lewis Center for the Arts. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University.
  More info

  My play, Harriet and Irene: Infinite Muses was presented and staged at Princeton Univ. as part of the 2025 María Irene Fornés Symposium.
• Romero, E. D. (2024. I worked as a dramaturg on the play A Visit from San Cristobal by Gregory Ramos.. Coachella Valley Repertory Theatre. Palm Springs: Coachella Valley Repertory Theatre. https://cvrep.org/productions/a-visit-from-san-cristobal/
  More info

  I dramaturged this bi-lingual comedy, attended all workshop rehearsals and participated in a panel discussion about the work.
• Romero, -. D. (2023. El Tiradito. El Tiradito Wishing Shrine. El Tiradito Wishing Shrine: Teatro Dignidad.
  More info

  The play, El Tiradito, commissioned by Teatro Dignidad (Coalición de Derochos Humanos)with Mellon funding and funding from the Center Creative Inquiry was presented as a World Premiere, Sept. 14-24 in the open air at El Tiradito Wishing Shrine in downtown Tucson.
• Romero, E. D. (2023. Like Heaven. Bridge Initiative (AEA theatre) performing at EMCC. Phoenix: The Bridge Initiative.
  More info

  The Bridge Initiative (AEA Theatre) produced Like Heaven under the direction of Samantha K. Wyer starring a professional cast. This was the first AEA professional production of the play, which was first produced at ART in the School of Theatre, Film & Television.
• Romero, E. D. (2022. Prosperita (AEA), Red Bull Theatre Company (Commission; Off-Broadway, dir. Timothy Douglas), NY, NY. 2022. The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture.
• Romero, E. D. (2021. RomeroFest. international venues. Nationwide: Arizona Theatre Company.
  More info

  This international festival of my work includes theatres from all over who are participating. It was initiated and by the Arizona Theatre Company. Individual theatres are responsible for their own producing.
• Romero, E. D. (2019. Chicago One-Minute Play Festival: America is . . . (Tweet and Choice). Den Theatre. Chicaog, IL: One-Minute Play Festival (NY).
  More info

  I was invited and commissioned to write two plays for this festival. I wrote Tweet and Choice and they have been accepted.
• Romero, E. D. (2018. Like Heaven. Arizona Repertory Theatre. Tornabene Theatre: School of Theatre, Film, and Television.
  More info

  Participated as a playwright in the process of the production of the new play, Like Heaven. Revised work, collaborated with ART artists. The play was directed by Brent Gibbs.
• Romero, E. D. (2017. Mother of Exiles. University of Arizona Studio Series. Harold Dixon Directing Studio: University of Arizona.
  More info

  Wrote and revised a new play in rehearsal with director and students, culminating in public performances.
• Romero, E. D. (2017. Revoluciones. Los Angeles Theatre Center. Los Angeles: Latinx Theatre Commons/Foro Shakespeare (Mexico City, MX).
  More info

  A team of Mexico City theatre artists produced my play, Revoluciones, in Spanish and presented it during an international festival.
• Romero, E. D. (2017. Swastika (as part of Not Normal: Art in Resistance in the Time of Trump). Irondale Center. Brooklyn, NY: Irondale Ensemble Project (OB; AEA). https://www.facebook.com/events/272494556519109/
  More info

  Swastika was selected from an international call for scripts as a rapid response form of theatre. It was fully produced Off-Broadway, under the direction of Laura Tesman, and starring AEA actors.
• Romero, E. D. (2017. Tweet and Choice (The Chicago One-Minute Play Festival). The Den Theatre. Chicago, IL: One-Minute Play Festival.
  More info

  I was commissioned to write twp plays, Tweet and Choice, for this festival, which will premiere in the Spring.
• Romero, E. D. (2016. A Work of Art. Chicago Dramatists with Goodman Theatre Associate Artist Henry Godinez. Chicago, IL: Chicago Dramatists. http://www.goodmantheatre.org/season/1112/playwrights-unit/ ; http://wp.16thstreettheater.org/productions/season-eight-2015/graveyard-of-empires/
• Romero, E. D. (2016. Barrio Stories (Dirt and Heart of the City). Tucson Convention Center (TCC). Tucson, AZ: Borderlands Theater.
  More info

  With a generous grant from the Confluence Center for Creativity and the A-Ha Program: Think it! Do it! from Met-Life, Barrio Stories brought me in to serve as one of three playwrights and the dramaturg for this big ambitious event, a national event that happened to take place in Tucson. Inspired by interviews conducted by the theatre and anthropologists, we sought to tell the stories of those who lost their vibrant neighborhood in 1966 when Tucson ripped out a Mexican neighborhood in the heart of the city to build the Tucson Convention Center. Historical wounds have lasted and we partook in an attempt to heal these wounds by bringing this outside theatrical performance to the actual site. My piece Heart of the City employed giant puppets to tell the story, while the more intimate tale, Dirt, featured a sole actor, the dirt who had witnessed all of Tucson history.
• Romero, E. D. (2016. La Esquinita, USA. San Juan Bautista/El Teatro Campesino. San Juan Bautista, CA: Arizona Theatre Company.
  More info

  Arizona Theatre Company sent me and their stage manager to San Juan Bautista to workshop a show that I had recommended to replace a show they had lost in their season. The director, Kinan Valdez, was the former producing director of El Teatro Campesino. Ruben Gonzalez serves as the playwright/performer of this one -man show.
• Romero, E. D. (2016. Rally (Chicago One-Minute Play Festival). THE 6th CHICAGO ONE-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL Featuring All Women Playwrights and Directors. The Den Theatre, Chicago, IL: One-Minute Play Festival (NY).
  More info

  I was commissioned to write, Rally, for this festival that featured 70 female Chicago writers. The play was directed by Diana Raiselis.
• Romero, E. D. (2016. Swastika (Ripped: the Living Newspaper Festival). Greenhouse Theatre. Chicago: American Blues Theatre.
  More info

  American Blues Theater (ABT) employs the WPA's Living Newspaper structure for an event that includes high-profile national playwrights to write plays based on headlines. I was commissioned to write "Swastika," inspired by the debasement of the Alice Millar Chapel at the Northwestern University campus during the beginning of the presidential campaign. The project included writers such noted writers as Keith Huff (House of Cards, Producer/Broadway), Larissa Fasthorse, and Rohina Malika. The plays featured AEA actors and were produced. The festival serves as an annual fundraiser for ABT.
• Romero, E. D. (2016. The 5th Annual 1MPF (Group Think and The Millennial Tax). INTAR (Off-Broadway), NY, NY: One-Minute Play Festival (NY), INTAR.
  More info

  OMPF/INTAR commissioned 21 well-known Latinx writers from across the U.S. to participate. Some of the writers included Oliver Mayer, Hillary Bettis (The Americans), and Mando Alvarado. They commissioned me and I wrote two pieces, Group Think and The Millennial Tax, which were performed in December 2016. I was in town for the Latinx Theatre Commons NY Convening and attended the performance.
• Romero, E. D. (2016. The Bechdel Fest 4: Boiling Point. Pride Stage and Films. Chicago, IL: Broken Nose Theatre (Chicago Storefront Theatre).
  More info

  The festival commissioned me for a play called Our Bodies/Yourselves, which I developed over the summer. Everybody loved it. When problems with casting arose, the play was replaced with another play of mine, Kissing Fire. The festival featured some of Chicago's top female playwrights, including Nambi Kelley.
• Romero, E. D. (2016. Undercurrents. Estrella Mountain Community College. Avondale, AZ: TheateEtsrella.
  More info

  I permitted the college to do the play as a form of regional outreach. The students resonated with this regional Latinx story.
• Romero, E. D. (2015. 4th Annual One-Minute Play Festival. INTAR (Off-Broadway), NY, NY. INTAR, NY, NY: 1MPF/INTAR.
  More info

  I was commissioned to write two plays for this event. I wrote Family Trauma and Erosion. Twenty-five Latinx writers were invited to participate from across the county. This event included such playwrights as Jose Rivera, Caridad Svich, and Juan Villa.
• Romero, E. D. (2015. GRAVEYARD OF EMPIRES - World Premeire. Berwyn, IL: 16th St. Theatre. http://www.broadwayworld.com/chicago/article/16th-Street-Theatre-Presents-GRAVEYARD-EMPIRES-20150228
  More info

  The first installment of my trilogy, the U.S. at War, Graveyard of Empires.Synopsis. Software Engineer Drew Snider has a mind that remembers every moment of his life. Maybe that’s why he can’t let go of his ex-wife, Shanti, and why he still remembers the unmanned vehicles flying software he developed for the military. Their son Nathan grew up feeling inferior to his dad and volunteered for war. He once met Ramiro Enriquez, a pilot who never gets to fly, but fires weapons in the Middle East from a desert in Nevada. When Ramiro is held responsible for a friendly fire incident, how do survivors piece together a future while absorbing a wounded past?
• Romero, E. D. (2015. Graveyard of Empires. 16th Street Theatre. Berwyn, IL: 16th Street Theatre.
  More info

  AEA callback audition for upcoming World Premiere, the first installment of the U.S. at War Trilogy. The audition was run by the play's director Kevin Christopher Fox. Kevin is a SDC and AEA member.
• Romero, E. D. (2015. Inheritance. Every 28 Hours. Nationwide, Performed in Ferguson Missouri and nationally: Oregon Shakespeare Festival/One-Minute Play Festival/Goodman Theatre.
  More info

  I had the distinct privilege of being an invited playwright on behalf of the Goodman Theatre for this response to police brutality.The project began in Ferguson, and went to Trinity Rep and beyond. When the play was presented at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, it played to an audience of 1,100.
• Romero, E. D. (2015. Modern Slave. Ford's Theatre (DC). http://www.fords.org/home/media-center/releases-and-updates/fords-announces-2015-season
  More info

  Turned in Modern Slave for Ford's Theatre Commission on time. Ford's Theatre is a LORT A theatre. The commission idea was approved by Ford's Artistic team on July 30, 2014 and the deadline for the full-length play was October 31, 2014. I made the deadline. Ford's has now commissioned four woman writers as part of this initiative. The play was completed on deadline.
• Romero, E. D. (2014. Mother of Exiles - Saturday Series. Chicago Dramatists. Chicago, IL: Chicago Dramatists. http://www.chicagodramatists.org/event-1744030

Creative Performances

• August, D. (2025.

  National Latine Playwrights Award & Festival Director

  . National Latine Playwrights Award & Festival. Tempe Center for the Arts, Tempe, Arizona: Arizona Theatre Company.
  More info

  Served as Festival Director and Project Dramaturg for National Latine Playwrights Award & Festival featuring the award-winning play, Lottery Boy, by Edwin Sánchez. 
• Romero, E. D. (2024. National Latine Playwrights Award & Festival Director. Produced Festival, organized ancillary events, served as project dramaturg for the award-winning play, "The Nude," by David Tucker III.. National Latine Playwrights Award & Festival.
• Romero, E. D. (2019. Title IX. Chicago Dramatists 28-Hour Workshop. Chicago, IL: Chicago Dramatists.
  More info

  One of a couple project accepted for 28 hours of workshopping at Chicago Dramatists with professional cast. Directed by Artistic Director, Meghan Beals.
• Romero, E. D. (2017. "On Jewish and Latino Intersections. Jewish Museum's Annual Meeting. Tucson and Phoenix, AZ: Jewish Museum.
  More info

  Addressed a large crowd at the annual meeting and read from my work.
• Romero, E. D. (2017. Forbidden Points. REPRORights. San Francisco, CA: 3Girls Theatre Company. http://reprorights.weebly.com/uploads/5/4/2/5/54255571/repro_rights_program_2017.pdf
  More info

  Play picked up from a national call for plays.
• Romero, E. D. (2017. Forbidden Points. The Future is Female (national festival)The Gender Empowerment Project/Chicago Dramatists. https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/THE-FUTURE-IS-FEMALE-FESTIVAL-to-Celebrate-Women-Nationwide-This-March-20170215
  More info

  I was commissioned to write Forbidden Points for the national festival, The Future is Female. I represented Chicago.
• Romero, E. D. (2017. La Esquinita, USA. Regional World Premiere. Tucson and Phoenix, AZ: Arizona Theatre Company.
  More info

  Production Dramaturg for the show. Advise interns and literary team on talkbacks as well.
• Romero, E. D. (2017. Modern Slave. 2017 Seven Devils Playwrights Conference. McCall, ID: id Theatre.
  More info

  Play was selected for development reading a workshop out of 800 submissions. Directed by veteran director, Amy Saltz, with a cast of AEA actors.
• Romero, E. D. (2017. Modern Slave. Construction Zone. Seattle, WA: A Contemporary Theatre/ eSe Teatro. http://www.iexaminer.org/2017/09/modern-slave-tells-a-cross-cultural-story-of-sweatshop-labor/
  More info

  Modern Slave was workshopped and presented at A Contemporary Theatre in downtown Seattle in association with eSe Teatro. The play was directed by Kathy Hsieh.
• Romero, E. D. (2017. Title IX. Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference. Waterford, CT: Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center.
  More info

  Title IX, the third play of my Arizona/Mexican border trilogy, was selected from over 1500 submissions. It was workshopped by Daniella Topol with a cast of AEA actors, including veteran Broadway and O'Neill actors.
• Romero, E. D. (2016. A Constitutional Imperative. My America: She. Baltimore, Maryland: Center Stage (LORT).
  More info

  Before the election, Center Stage commissioned me and other playwrights to write plays about our worst fears if Hillary Clinton won the election. They were to be performed on on Inauguration Day but their new space was not complete, so they are producing them later.
• Romero, E. D. (2016. Inheritance. Every 28 Hours. National, LORT and Off-Broadway venues include McCarter Theater (1,100 attendees), Goodman Theatre, Kennedy Center, Trinity Rep, American Conservatory Theatre, and Off-Broadway with Labyrinth Theatre, The Working Theatre, and The New Group Theatre.: Oregon Shakespeare Festival/OPF with Goodman Theatre.
  More info

  I've had the supreme honor of being included among the participating in this big national playwriting event that has had a powerful national impact. Claudia Alick of Oregon Shakespeare Festival invited me to write for Every 28 Hours in co-commissioned piece with OSF and OMPF. Other participating playwrights include: Tarell Alvin McCraney, Kristoffer Diaz, Neil LaBute, Lynn Nottage, Lisa Loomer, Migdalia Cruz, David Henry Hwang, Idris Goodwin, and Pulitzer-winner Robert Schenkkan. I was honored to represent the Goodman Theatre on the project. The premise of Every 28 Hours is that every 28 hours a black person dies in police custody. The plays were written in response to this statement. My play, Inheritance, has to do with my Grandpa Rafael who died in police custody in Albuquerque, NM after suffering a stroke. He died in jail. They said he was "a drunk Indian." In this ongoing project, Alick continues to promote and document this project in a multitude of ways.
• Romero, E. D. (2016. Modern Slave. Summer Playwrights Festival 7 (AEA staged-reading). Los Angeles (North Hollywood): The Road Theatre.
  More info

  Modern Slave was selected for the Road Theatre's Summer Playwright Festival 7 and directed by Suzanne Hunt. It featured a cast of some of Los Angeles's top AEA actors. I spent a week in LA rehearsing the script and made a number of script changes in the process.
• Romero, E. D. (2016. Modern Slave. VG Reading Series. Chicago, IL: Victory Gardens Theater (Regional Theatre).
  More info

  I spent several days in Chicago workshopping this play under the direction of Erica Weiss and with dramaturg Isaac Gomez. We had a full cast of some of Chicago's finest AEA actors and I completely overhauled the play. Synopsis: When Andrea finds a hand-scrawled note from a Chinese sweatshop worker in the pocket of her designer coat, she sets off on a passionate journey to free him. Little does she know that this journey to freedom takes her down a rabbit hole of globalization & the complicated world of modern slavery as she struggles to keep up with the world (and workers) around her.
• Romero, E. D. (2016. Orlando. After Orlando. Finborough Theatre (London), Chaskis Theatre@Theatre Royal Stratford E. (Longdon), A Host of People (Detroit), Central Square Theatre (Cambridge), The Road Theatre (LA), Brandeis University (Mass.), Theatrix (Lincoln, NE), Taproot Ensemble (NC), UA, Hostos Community College (Bronx, NY), among many others national/international venues.: Missing Bolts Productions/No Passport Press.
  More info

  It has been exciting to be part of project that has had international impact and reach. "After Orlando" is an on-going international project that began with the invitation that I have attached. International playwrights of note were invited to submit short plays in response to the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando. Individual theatres curate their own events, and I've listed some of where my play, Orlando, has been included. All invitations and follow-up correspondence have been conducted by email.
• Romero, E. D. (2016. Title IX. 28 Hour Workshop. Chicago, IL: Chicago Dramatists.
  More info

  Artistic Director, Meghan Beals, directed this 28-Hour workshop of my new play with AEA actors.
• Romero, E. D. (2016. Title IX. Saturday Series Staged-Reading. Chicago, IL: Chicago Dramatists. http://www.chicagodramatists.org/event-2181640
  More info

  This AEA staged-reading of the first draft of this Arizona Theatre Company commission was directed by Lauren Shouse.
• Romero, E. D. (2016. Wetback. Staged-Reading. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University.
  More info

  Staged-reading with AEA actress Olga Sanchez Saltveit in the lead.
• Romero, E. D. (2015. A WORK OF ART - World Premiere. Chicago Dramatists. Chicago Dramatists, Chicago, IL: Produced Goodman Theatre/Chicago Dramatists.
  More info

  A Work of Art, originally commissioned by the Goodman Theatre's Playwrights Unit received its World Premiere at Chicago Dramatists in association with the Goodman Theatre under the director of Goodman's Artistic Associate and Northwestern University Professor, Henry Godinez. Our production was recommended by the Chicago Reader and the Chicago Tribune.The second installment of my trilogy, the U.S. at War, A Work of Art represents a particular personal piece for me, the experience of losing a loved one during war. It's an experience I went through as a child that has lingered with me. A Work of Art attempts to look at what our country asks families to live with when we send their loved ones to war. Synopsis: Sabrina lost her brother Kirk to the war in Vietnam and the course of her life was changed forever. Now, at a crossroads, she must do battle with her past and the ghosts that continue to haunt her. This achingly beautiful new work about the burden that families are asked to carry is part of a trilogy of plays about the U.S. at war.
• Romero, E. D. (2015. Family Trauma. World Premiere. NYC: INTAR/One-Minute Play Festival.
  More info

  INTAR, the leading Latino theatre in NYC, alongside the One-Minute Play Festival commissioned and produced Family Trauma, directed by Jose Rivera and Kat Yen.

Others

• Romero, E. D. (2016, 2016-03-01). Title IX. Arizona Theatre Company.
  More info

  Arizona Theatre Company and I won a large NEA Arts Works grant together for which I wrote TITLE IX, a major life accomplishment as it completes my border trilogy, which includes WETBACK and MOTHER OF EXILES. I've met all deadlines on this project and now have an exciting new play.
• Romero, E. D. (2016, 2016-04-15/17). 2016 LTC Pacific Northwest Convening in Seattle. University of Washington.
  More info

  I attended the convening and spoke in public conversations as part of the style of presentations for the commons. I attended all meetings of the Steering Committee and pitched my Latina/o Theatre Festival with Arizona Theatre Company.
• Romero, E. D. (2016, 2016-05-21/22). The 2016 Network of Ensemble Theaters Intersection: Ensembles + Universities Symposium. Columbia College.
  More info

  Participated in the devised conference at Columbia College for the Network of Ensemble Theatres.
• Romero, E. D. (2016, 2016-06-23/25). TCG National Conference: Theatre Nation. Renaissance Washington, DC Downtown Hotel.
  More info

  I participated in the Theatre Communications Group's National Conference with the special designation of having won the Edgerton Award for New Plays.
• Romero, E. D. (2016, 2016-12-1/4). LTC New York Convening. The Public Theatre.
  More info

  This was an important convening as a member of the Steering Committee. We had many large group meetings in which I participated. We also saw performances and listened to speakers.
• Romero, E. D. (2016, 2016-7-6/9). LMDA Conference 2016: Portland, OR. Portland State University.
  More info

  Participant. I attended portions of the conference and their Awards Dinner for the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of America. As a result of this visit, I was invited to submit our new MFA in Dramaturgy Program for a national award.

Creative Works

• Elaine Romero: The Border Trilogy; Theatre; Methuen, London,UK; September 2025; Methuen Play Collections; This represents the primary focus of my creative work. This collection of my work is forthcomthing. Elaine Romero: The Border Trilogy includes my plays Wetback, Mother of Exiles, and Title IX.
• Swastika; Dramatic Literature; TRW; October 2023; TRW Short Plays, Vol 2,; Set in a jail cell, a Latina mother confronts son after learning he has defamed his campus chapel with swastika.
• A Sentiment; Theatre; Theatrical Rights Worldwide; October 2022; TRW Short Plays, Vol. 1, Editor: Craig Pospisil,; This publication includes my play A Sentiment which I previously mad a short film
• Diablos Aquí; March 2025; As part of the Udall Fellowship semester, I workshopped my play, Diablos Aquí, in partnership with UA, Arizona Theatre Company, and Teatro Dignidad. I was able to present the play at UA and ATC in March and a revision at UA in April.
• El Tiradito; fiction; March 2023; Latine Lit; This short story, from the collection, Flower Breath, is set in Tucson at the famous shrine. (This is a diff. piece than the stage play.)
• Oyster; Theatre; Dramatists Play Service; July 2020; Technical Difficulties: Plays for Online Theatre; My play Oyster appears in this anthology and is now licensed by DPS.
• A Simple Breath; short story; January 2023; Latine Lit; From the collection, Flower Breath, "A Simple Breath," looks at an elder who sacrifices herself for a descendent.
• Hoverland; Theatre; Unknown; December 2022; Border anthology
• No Justice; Play; Cleveland Public Theatre; Commissioned for Voces/Voices. Four plays about the border.