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Elaine D Romero

  • Associate Professor, School of Theatre/Film and Television
  • Member of the Graduate Faculty
  • Associate Professor, Applied Intercultural Arts Research - GIDP
Contact
  • (520) 621-5899
  • Louise Foucar Marshall Bldg., Rm. 220
  • Tucson, AZ 85721
  • elaineromero@arizona.edu
  • Bio
  • Interests
  • Courses
  • Scholarly Contributions
  • More
    • Creative Works

Biography

Playwright Elaine Romero once passed out ham sandwiches with Mother Teresa in Paris. She loves to write in coffee shops and claims that most of her plays “begin as a sort of haunting.”

Elaine’s trilogy U.S. at War: Three Plays includes Graveyard of Empires, A Work of Art, and the upcoming Sticks and Stones. Graveyard of Empires won the American Blues Theater’s Blue Ink! Playwriting Award. 16th Street Theater produced the World Premiere of this first installment of the U.S. at War under the direction of Kevin Christopher Fox. In association with the Goodman Theatre, and under the direction of Goodman’s Associate Artist, Henry Godinez, Chicago Dramatists  produced the World Premiere of A Work of Art.The play was developed as part of the Goodman Theatre’s Playwrights Unit under the leadership of dramaturg Tanya Palmer. Elaine has had the good forture of participaing in After Orlando, an International Theatre Action with her play Orlando. The play has been produced in London and across the U.S. Inheritance, her contribution to Every 28 Hours has been produced in prestiougs regional theatres across the country.

Her second trilogy about the Arizona/Mexican border includes Wetback, Mother of Exilesand Title IX. Mother of Exiles was commissioned by and produced at Cornell University and in the UA's Studio Series. With Arizona Theatre Company, Elaine has received an NEA grant to spearhead Voices of a New America, an ambitious company-wide project developing and celebrating the work of Latino writers. For Voices, ATC  commissioned Elaine to write Title IX, which Elaine developed at Chicago Dramatists in two intensive workshops and at the prestigious Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference in 2017.  Secret Things received its World Premiere with Camino Real Productions. Romero recently penned Modern Slave for Ford’s Theatre in DC, which has since gone onto readings at Victory Gardens in Chicago and The Road Theatre in Los Angeles. She  wrote two plays Barrio Stories Project for Borderlands Theater that also included playwrights Martin Zimmerman and Virginia Grise.

Ponzi and Walk into the Sea were also presented at the Goodman. Ponzi (Edgerton Fund for New American Play Award) premiered at Kitchen Dog Theater. 

Something Rare and Wonderful received its World Premiere at the Alley Theatre. Barrio Hollywood was performed at Orlando Shakespeare Theater (OST; Spanish translation) and premiered in Spanish at Aurora Theatre in Lawrenceville, GA. Acting editions of Barrio Hollywood in separate English and Spanish are published by Samuel French. Elaine was the first author in Samuel French’s 175-year history to be published in Spanish. The play also appears in Vaqueeros, Calacas, and Hollywood (Bilingual Review Press). Other productions include Borderlands Theater, Miracle Theatre, and New Theatre. Revolutions premiered in Spanish at the Panama National Theatre and in English in New York City.

Some of Elaine’s other plays iCuranderas! Serpents of the Clouds, Walk into the Sea, If Susan Smith Could Talk, Secret Things, The Fat-Free Chicana and the Snow Cap Queen, Before Death Comes for the Archbishop, Undercurrents have been developed/produced at such theatres as Actors Theatre of Louisville, Magic Theatre, Ford Amphitheatre, New Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Curious Theatre Company, Bloomington Playwrights Project, Kitchen Dog Theater, Urban Stages, INTAR, the Playwrights’ Center, Women’s Project and Productions, the Working Theater, the Lark Theatre, Invisible Theatre, San Diego Repertory Theatre, Borderlands Theater, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and Miracle Theatre.                     

Publishers include: Samuel French, Vintage Books, Playscripts, Smith and Kraus, Heinemann Press, University of Iowa Press, UA Press, Simon and Schuster, and Bedford/St. Martin’s Press. Upcoming publications include pieces in Re)Positioning the Latina/o Americas: Theatrical Histories and Cartographies of Power. Southern Illinois University Press, Xochi: Jaguar Princess in Palabras Del Cielo: A Critical Anthology of Latina/o TYA Plays & Playwrights with Dramatic Publishing, and Bloody River for When the Promise was Broken. Walking Home will be published abroad.

Elaine has been a Guest Artist at the Mark Taper Forum, Denver Center Theatre Company, and South Coast Repertory. Playwright-in-Residence at the Arizona Theatre Company, Elaine co-chaired the National Association of Independent Producers’ National Conference. She participated in the Hermitage Artist Retreat, ENVISION Retreat, and the Orchard Project. Wetback received readings nationwide and is now part of the 30/30. Revolutions premiered in English at Manhattan Theatre Source. Rain of Ruin was produced in Sydney where it appeared on Australian television. A Simple Snow won the InspiraTO Festival/Toronto.

Some commissions include Ford’s Theatre (Modern Slave), Kennedy Center for Performing Arts (Xochi: Jaguar Princess), Theatre Seven of Chicago (These People), Alley Theatre, Cornell University (Mother of Exiles), Arkansas Repertory Theatre (Sun, Stone, and Shadows), Kitchen Dog Theater Company/NNPN Commission (Ponzi), InterAct Theatre Company (The Dalai Lama is Not Welcome Here), and Magic Theatre/Sloan Science & Technology Grant (Walk into the Sea).  She has participated in the Sundance Playwrights’ Retreat, Playwrights’ Center’s New Plays on Campus Program, and Arkansas Repertory’s Voices at the River.

Elaine had also received the Arizona Commission on the Arts Playwriting Fellowship, TCG/Pew National Theatre Artist in Residence grant, the NEA/TCG Theatre Residency Program for Playwrights grant.  Other awards include: Los Angeles Film School Scholarship, Sprenger-Lang New History Play Contest, Tennessee Williams One-Act Play Award, and The Chicano/Latino Literary Award.

Elaine participated in the National Hispanic Media Coalition’s Television Writer’s Program, NBC’s Writers on the Verge Program, and CBS Diversity Institute’s Writer’s Mentorship Program. Elaine is the co-writer of the web series, The Ethical Slut, which is a LAWebFest2015 Official Selection., receiving nominations for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy, Outstanding Directing in a Comedy, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy, and Outstanding Series Premiere). Her feature, Killing Beauty, about sex slavery in the United States, was a finalist for Cinefestival’s 2015 Latino Screenwriting Project.

Elaine was a 2012-2013 Carl Djerassi Fellow at UW-Madison under the generous support of the late Carl J. Djerassi. Recent premieres include Secret Things with Camino Real Productions in New Mexico, and, These People with Theatre Seven of Chicago. Elaine is a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists. Elaine is an Associate Professor in the School of Theatre, Film and Television.

 

Degrees

  • M.F.A. Dramatic Art (Playwriting)
    • University of California, Davis, Davis, California, US
    • Collection of Plays
  • B.A. Creative Writing
    • Linfield College, McMinnville, Oregon, US
    • Collection of Original Work

Work Experience

  • University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin (2012 - 2013)
  • Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois (2010 - 2011)
  • Arizona Theatre Company (1998 - Ongoing)

Awards

  • Integrative Arts Research Fellowship
    • CFA, Fall 2024
  • The Alberto Rios Outstanding Literary/Arts Award
    • Pete C. Garcia Victoria Foundation, Fall 2024
  • Udall Fellowship
    • Udall Center for Public Policy, Spring 2024
  • 2023 ariZoni Award (2023, Best Original Script)
    • ariZona Theatre Association, Scottsdale, AZ, Fall 2023
  • El Tiradito Commission
    • Teatro Dignidad, Spring 2023
  • O'Neill National Playwwrights Conference Playwright
    • NPC, Spring 2023 (Award Finalist)
  • Our Towns Theatre Commission
    • Ours Towns Theatre Initiative, Spring 2023
  • DC Metro Theatre Arts DCMTA 2021 Staff Favorites: Outstanding Professional Theater Productions
    • DCMTA, Spring 2022
  • Our Towns Theatre Initiative Commission
    • Our Towns Theatre Initiative, Spring 2022
  • RomeroFest
    • Arizona Theatre Company, Spring 2022
  • Top Five Picks for 19th Amendment Project
    • Chatham Life & Style, Summer 2020
  • Distinguished Alumna of the Year Award
    • Linfield College, Fall 2019
  • My Own Private Idaho Retreat
    • Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, Summer 2019
  • Erik Ehn's Silent Playwrights' Retreat
    • Erik Ehn, Summer 2018
  • Headlands Artist in Residence
    • Headlands Center, Summer 2018
  • Arts Hero ("The Lumies: Noche de las Artes: A Celebration of Arts Heroes
    • Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona/ON Media Publications, Fall 2017
  • Carnaval
    • Latina/o Theatre Commons, Spring 2016
  • Francesca Primus Prize
    • American Theatre Critics Association, Fall 2015 (Award Nominee)
  • Steinberg Award
    • National Theatre Critics Association, Fall 2015 (Award Nominee)
  • Sundance Screenwriters Lab
    • Sundance Institute, Fall 2015 (Award Nominee)
  • Susan Smith Blackburn Award
    • Susan Smith Blackburn Committee, Fall 2015 (Award Nominee)
  • Jeff Recommendation
    • The Jeff Awards, Spring 2015 (Award Nominee)
  • NEA Arts Works
    • TCG/NEA, Spring 2015
  • A-ha! Program: Think It, Do It (with Borderlands Theater)
    • MetLife Foundation (Theatre Communications Group), Fall 2014
  • Latino Screenwriting Lab
    • San Antonio CineFestival, Fall 2014 (Award Finalist)
  • NEA Art Work Grant
    • National Endowment for the Arts, Fall 2014

Licensure & Certification

  • Certified Yoga Teacher, Yoga Connection (2002)

Related Links

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Interests

Research

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

Teaching

Playwriting, Scriptwriting, Dramaturgy, Latinx theatre, Diverse theatre

Courses

2024-25 Courses

  • Dramaturgy
    TAR 363 (Fall 2024)
  • Introduction to Script Writing
    TFTV 360 (Fall 2024)

2023-24 Courses

  • Adv Topics in Playwriting
    TAR 496B (Spring 2024)
  • Adv. Topics in Playwriting
    TAR 596B (Spring 2024)
  • Audience Development
    TAR 431 (Spring 2024)
  • Dramaturgy
    TAR 363 (Fall 2023)
  • Introduction to Script Writing
    TFTV 360 (Fall 2023)

2022-23 Courses

  • Independent Study
    TAR 499 (Summer I 2023)
  • Adv Topics in Playwriting
    TAR 496B (Spring 2023)
  • Adv. Topics in Playwriting
    TAR 596B (Spring 2023)
  • Dramaturgy
    TAR 363 (Fall 2022)
  • Prin Dramatic Structure
    TFTV 145 (Fall 2022)

2021-22 Courses

  • Audience Development
    TAR 431 (Spring 2022)
  • Independent Study
    TAR 499 (Spring 2022)
  • Prin Dramatic Structure
    TFTV 145 (Spring 2022)
  • Dramaturgy
    TAR 363 (Fall 2021)
  • Internship
    TAR 493 (Fall 2021)
  • Introduction to Script Writing
    TFTV 360 (Fall 2021)

2019-20 Courses

  • Audience Development
    TAR 431 (Spring 2020)
  • Honors Independent Study
    TAR 499H (Spring 2020)
  • Independent Study
    TAR 499 (Spring 2020)
  • Internship
    TAR 493 (Spring 2020)
  • Dramaturgy
    TAR 363 (Fall 2019)
  • Independent Study
    TAR 399 (Fall 2019)
  • Internship
    TAR 493 (Fall 2019)
  • Introduction to Script Writing
    TAR 360 (Fall 2019)

2018-19 Courses

  • Adv Topics in Playwriting
    TAR 496B (Spring 2019)
  • Adv. Topics in Playwriting
    TAR 596B (Spring 2019)
  • Clq in Career Development
    TAR 395A (Spring 2019)
  • Master's Report
    TAR 909 (Spring 2019)
  • Performance
    TAR 497F (Spring 2019)
  • Practicum
    TAR 694 (Spring 2019)
  • Independent Study
    TAR 399 (Fall 2018)
  • Introduction to Script Writing
    TAR 360 (Fall 2018)
  • Workshop Performance
    TAR 497W (Fall 2018)
  • Workshop Performance
    TAR 597W (Fall 2018)

2017-18 Courses

  • Dramaturg & New Play Process
    TAR 663 (Spring 2018)
  • Dramaturgy
    TAR 363 (Spring 2018)
  • Internship
    TAR 593 (Spring 2018)
  • Audience Development
    TAR 431 (Fall 2017)
  • Dramaturgy Production
    TAR 597G (Fall 2017)
  • Internship
    TAR 593 (Fall 2017)
  • Introduction to Script Writing
    TAR 360 (Fall 2017)

2016-17 Courses

  • Adv Topics in Playwriting
    TAR 496B (Spring 2017)
  • Adv. Topics in Playwriting
    TAR 596B (Spring 2017)
  • Dramaturgy
    TAR 363 (Spring 2017)
  • Honors Thesis
    TAR 498H (Spring 2017)
  • Adv Tpcs/Prod Dramaturgy
    TAR 463 (Fall 2016)
  • Adv Tpcs/Prod Dramaturgy
    TAR 563 (Fall 2016)
  • Honors Thesis
    TAR 498H (Fall 2016)
  • Introduction to Script Writing
    TAR 360 (Fall 2016)
  • Performance
    TAR 497F (Fall 2016)

2015-16 Courses

  • Dramaturgy
    TAR 363 (Spring 2016)
  • Internship
    TAR 493 (Spring 2016)
  • Performance
    TAR 497F (Spring 2016)

Related Links

UA Course Catalog

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. (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. (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

  • 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.

Profiles With Related Publications

  • Lydia R Otero

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
  • 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.

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