​RomeroFest

RomeroFest invites audiences into the play-making process of Arizona Theatre Company’s Playwright-in-Residence Elaine Romero through digital readings of her published works, current and past commissions, and new plays. There will be special events and panels throughout the festival, giving audiences time with the playwright and context from theatre industry scholars.
Attending RomeroFest is easy! The entire festival is available in a digital format.
Follow the steps below, we can’t wait for you to virtually join us!

Eugene O'Neill
​Theater Center 
305 Great Neck Road Waterford, CT 06378

TITLE IX
By Elaine Romero
Readings:  Wed., July 19; 8:15pm -- Thur., July 20; 8:15pm​

The third play of Elaine Romero’s U.S./Mexican border trilogy, Title IX follows a border family of Latina educators from 1972 to the present. Has sexism in the U.S. been eradicated, or has it just found new forms? Does the right to equal treatment lead to that equal treatment, or is it an insidious path to something else?
​New Plays by Stephen Belber, Michael Tucker, Martyna Majok Set for 2017 O’Neill Playwrights Conference
  • “Title IX,” a play by Elaine Romero​ centered around a family of Latina educators from 1972 to the present;

​Casting Announced for Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's 2017 National Playwrights Conference
Title IX 
By Elaine Romero
Director: Daniella Topol
Dramaturg: Kristin Leahey
Cast: Sean Carvajal, Jill Eikenberry, Maria-Christina Oliveras, Makela Spielman, Frank Wood, and Carmen Zilles.
Readings: July 19 and 20 at 8:15 PM
Posted on April 24, 2017 
by trevorboffone

Elaine Romero
​Hometown: Laguna Niguel/San Juan Capistrano, CA
Current Town: Tucson, AZ
Affiliations: Arizona Theatre Company, Chicago Dramatists (Resident Playwright), University of Arizona
Q: How do you self-identify? A: Latinx, Latina/o, Mexican, Mexican-American, American, Chicana, etc... I use all these terms.
Q: Tell me about Title IX.
A: I’m all in with Title IX for a many reasons.  Continue reading →

The 2017 Seven Devils Conference Plays and Playwrights

Staged Readings
Modern Slave
by Featured Playwright Elaine Romero
When Andrea finds a hand-scrawled note from a Chinese sweatshop worker in the lining of her designer coat, she sets off on a passionate journey to free him. Little does she know that this journey to freedom will take her away from those she loves and down a rabbit hole of globalization and into the complicated world of modern slavery hidden in plain sight.

​Lineup Announced for 2017 Seven Devils Conference Lineup

MCCALL, IDAHO: Id Theater has announced the lineup for its 17th Seven Devils Playwrights Conference.
  • Elaine Romero’s -- Modern Slave, which follows the story of Andrea as she tries to free a Chinese sweatshop worker and stumbles into a problem of global proportions.

Seven Devils Playwrights Conference –
​Playwriting Workshop with Featured Artist Elaine Romero

Wednesday, June 14- 7PM: Playwriting Workshop with Featured Artist Elaine Romero
Aspiring writers are invited to join us for a free playwriting workshop led by Featured Artist Elaine Romero – no experience necessary, just an open mind and a sense of adventure! This is a free event but space is limited. Please email paula@idtheater.org to reserve your space.   .................
Modern Slave by Elaine Romero
Sunday, July 31, 2016  @8PM

The Road Theatre 
North Hollywood, CA 91601

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 will take her down a rabbit hole of globalization and the complicated world of modern slavery as she struggles to keep up with the world (and workers) around her.
2016 Ripped: The Living Newspaper Festival.Tuesday May 17, 2016
2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago 60614
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“Swastika”
by Elaine Romero
directed by Erica Weiss
featuring Roberto Jonson & Carmen Roman^.
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About Ripped: The Living Newspaper Festival
Chicago’s Original – Est. 2009
Since 2009, we’ve produced fifteen editions utilizing over 450 artists! Based on the 1930s WPA era program that brought Orson Welles, Arthur Miller, and Clifford Odets into public attention, we present short plays ripped from today’s headlines.
Source: Johnny Knight
Roberto Jonson (left) talks to Carmen Roman as they play mother and son in the short play "Swastika" by former School of Communication lecturer and playwright, Elaine Romero. The play is based on the vandalism incident at Alice Millar Chapel.

Former Northwestern lecturer writes short play based on vandalism at Alice Millar Chapel
Fathma Rahman, Assistant Campus Editor
May 18, 2016

Former School of Communication lecturer and playwright Elaine Romero wrote a short play based on the vandalism incident at Alice Millar Chapel. The show was performed Tuesday night at a Chicago theater.
The seven-minute play, titled “Swastika,” is a jailhouse scene between a mother and her son — who was imprisoned for an act of vandalism — in which she confronts him for his actions. The performance was part of the American Blues Theater’s “Ripped: The Living Newspaper Festival.”
“Plays always raise certain questions,” Romero said. “What if you were raised with certain values, but then you did something that is so ugly and hideous and your parent, who raised you not to be that way, came to jail and saw you?”
Then-Weinberg freshmen Anthony Morales and Matthew Kafker were charged with felony vandalism in connection with graffiti found in Alice Millar Chapel in March. As of last month, the two students are no longer enrolled at Northwestern.
Romero said she was not retelling the event in her play, but instead “trying to get underneath the psychology of what it takes for somebody to do that.” Although her play doesn’t specify that it is derived from the incident at NU, she said it is made clear by the details in the scene.
Roberto Jonson plays the role of the troubled son who draws a swastika inside a chapel and goes to prison for it.
“I didn’t know before doing this piece that this actually happened,” Jonson said. “(Romero) dissected the true events behind the story at one rehearsal and explained it to us. It was very shocking.”
More than anything, Jonson said he hopes people walk away feeling more aware about the news element of the play and acknowledge how these kinds of decisions can impact families.
Carmen Roman, who plays the parent, said she hopes the audience finds a way to empathize with both the mother and son. Roman said she also thought about what role Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump played in the Alice Millar incident. In addition to a swastika and male genitalia, the two former students also painted the word “Trump” inside the chapel.
“I was interested in this incident and how this energy and ideas around Donald Trump have unleashed a lot of negative things such as racism, anti-semitism and homophobia,” Roman said.
Romero said that she found herself devoting a lot of time to writing the play because it reflected something important to her personally.
“Short plays can really pack a punch,” Romero said. “They quickly deliver what you want to say and I think that because they’re so distilled, they’re a very powerful form of theater if you choose to talk about something you care about.”
VG READING SERIES
The VG Reading Series features readings of new plays. This regularly scheduled program of play readings will provide playwrights a platform to develop their plays-in-progress, and will give our audiences opportunities to experience exciting new work throughout the year. The Reading Series adds to our current programming of world premiere and new plays on our mainstage season and our IGNITION Festival of New Plays.

MODERN SLAVE
By ​Elaine Romero
Directed by ​Erica Weiss
January 12 at 7:30pm
Free and Open to the Public
Romero 2016