The Other Room

I awake but I can’t open my eyes. And I wonder how long I’ve been trying. I go to pry them open with my hands, but my hands are tied behind my back. I feel the strain on my shoulder as I try to break free. Little knives dance down my arm as it wakes up from its own slumber.

I have no idea where I am or how I got here.

Am I dreaming?

I try to stay still and listen to what’s surrounding me, try to make sense of what is going on. I can hear the traffic sounds…cars passing by on a nearby street. I don’t hear any people, so I wonder if I’m outside the city. From what I can tell, I am in a room (I am definitely inside) with an open window…or maybe an open door. I can almost feel a breeze.

The cars continue passing, but they do not notice me…it is the only sound, lonely as a single vibrating violin string, humming forever across an empty continent.

And I wonder if I’ll ever be able to play again.

Should I scream for help?

I am too scared of calling attention to whoever might be holding me captive, so I remain silent.

And then, the stench hits me. Urine. And shit.

I have been bound in this chair (I assume it’s a chair…a wooden one?) for so long that I have emptied my bowels all over myself. I adjust my body enough to feel the wet sand I am sitting in, confirming that I am full of waste.

How long have I been here? Hours? Days?

Is there any way of knowing?

I try to stand up, but my entire body is bound and I am filthy and helpless.

I try to piece my memory together—do I remember anything?

Nothing stirs in my mind. No clues reveal themselves. Blank and soiled, I sit and continue to listen to the cars pass on the road, and a few of them begin to sound like the ocean.

I feel myself drifting, but I cannot allow myself to dream…I must find a way out.

I scream for help—maybe my voice is urgent enough to reach into a distant passerby’s ear. The air fills my lungs and I cry out, but my voice is stopped by something in my mouth…a rag? A towel? A gag? The texture pushed against my tongue is rough, perhaps an entire bathrobe is shoved in my face.

I keep screaming and can feel my voice filling my own ears, and I continue, desperately, until the screams press upon my temples and blanket my brain. But none of the sounds can get out and I begin to taste the blood from the back of my throat, all for nothing.

Why am I here?

I have no idea.

I rock my chair side to side, trying to tip myself over onto the ground. The wood creaks under my weight, and I am sickened by the excrement mushing under my body as I shift myself from one side of the chair to the other.

Finally, I fall over to the ground, landing hard and loud onto the floor. The side of my face tells me I’m on hardwoods, perhaps…pine? No, maple.

I hear a door slide open…glass doors? I hear footsteps walk towards me from the other room, their sound echoes through the vibrations I feel pass against my face pressed onto the floor. The footsteps walk closer, until I know they are right next to me.

Who is standing over me?

A voice above me says, “Walter?”

It is a man, and he knows my name. And, of course, I cannot answer.

He presses the heel of his shoe against my face, taunting me. Slowly, he shifts his weight until my cheek feels the entire burden of his body. And, of course, I cannot scream. I can only wait and hope for him to stop.

Something in my face pops, I don’t know what it is, but it is a bigger knife and it is stabbing me just underneath my left eye.

He finally removes his foot from my ruined face and I can smell the fresh blood, feel its warmth as it slides down my cheek, an adagio of pain.

I want to ask him who he is, why he’s put me here, but I can’t, and it hurts too much anyway.

“Can you hear me?”

I know of no way to answer him but to squirm my body on the ground, enough for him to assume I’m still barely alive and listening.

He takes this as a “yes”.

“Do you recognize my voice?”

I don’t quite. The voice is sonorous, younger than mine, but somehow timeless.

“Do you remember me?”

I wish I could. The voice is still unplaced but not unfamiliar. It is a voice that comes on the end of a comet’s tail if it were swimming through a river.

I can’t make sense of the next few sounds—I know the man steps away from me and I hear three individual snaps. A creaking—a case of some kind opens. What is in there? A gun? A sword?

I hear the footsteps walk more about the room—his steps are direct. Is he looking for something? I hear an object dragging on the floor towards me…a chair?

Yes…he drags the chair next to me, still lying, bound, on the floor. I can feel one of the chair’s cold, metal legs pressed against my forehead. I am sure this is intentional.

I feel the chair bear the weight of the man as he sits down in it. What will happen next?

He clears his throat. And then I hear it—the bow glides over the violin strings and out come the first two, unmistakable, haunting notes. And inside the perfect vibrato of his second note, I know he is playing “Clair de lune”.

He continues playing, elegant and masterful, and I am no longer on the floor, bound to a chair, soaking in my own shit. I am with the angels. I am drifting above the sea with the other lonely and delicate, night-time souls, the moonlight illuminating the water in its wonderful half-light.

The violin sounds naked, even more vulnerable and magical without the piano accompanying, and it sends my soul even higher.

This stranger, my tormentor—or is he my angel?—continues gliding through the music, richly, perfectly, his notes impeccably placed, elegant and longing, his phrasing is graceful and mournful, and I feel he must be certain this is my favorite piece of music, the most perfect piece of music, and also the only piece I have failed to master. Dozens of years of attempting, but I don’t have the skill to play. I’ve always known I couldn’t play it because I loved it too much.

I know he is nearing the end of the music and I never want him to stop. I would lie on this floor, bleeding and broken, if I could continue to listen him play forever.

He reaches Debussy’s final note, capturing and gently holding it in the air for as long as possible, though it will never be long enough for me.

I hear him finally untuck the violin from his neck, the piece is over, but the final sounds continue passing through my mind. I am distracted from mentally replaying the music only when I feel the violin bow puncture my neck and pass all the way through my throat.

I lie on the ground, completely ripped open and spilling on to the floor.

The man stands, and I hear his footsteps leave the room. All is silent now, except for the cars that continue to pass, unchanged, outside the window. I still can make no sense of these last few moments.

Of course, at this point, it doesn’t matter.

I know my time is done. All I have left is the music, which I continue to listen to in my mind as it slowly, painfully fades away, and everything is completely gone.

=================
ROMERO

Profiled in Live Arts & Fringe Festival Blog

I was interviewed recently for the Live Arts & Philly Fringe Festival Blog. The profile is now posted on the Festival website, with several fun photos. To read the entire article, go HERE.

Big thank yous to Jennifer Hannan for taking the time and interest in interviewing me, and for the lovely write-up.

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ROMERO

Returning to the National Theater Institute

I am THRILLED that I am asked to return this summer to The National Theater Institute. I will return as the core playwriting faculty, working with the students of the TheaterMakers Summer Intensive Program. Housed on the campus of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT, the NTI program is one of the most prestigious and exciting training programs in the country.

I taught at NTI last summer and loved every minute of it. The students were talented, brave, smart, dedicated, and showed a lot of guts by testing themselves in the 7-day a week (no kidding), 6 week program. For 42 days straight, the NTI students push it to the max, and I will be there doing my best to stoke their creative fires, to continue to learn from them, and to help all of us explode the thing wide open.

I also look forward to rejoining several talented teaching artists, including Yuriy Kordonsky (Wesleyan University) and Broadway performer (Passing Strange) Colman Domingo, among others. My work at NTI last summer undoubtedly made me a better teacher, more aware of ways to embody the teaching/learning process, and more dynamic and bold in my own use of space. Because of and motivated by the talent that will surround me, I see this teaching opportunity as a way to challenge own skills as an educator, and to push against my own teaching expectations.

As an added benefit, the summer training will be in session during the National Music Theater Conference, as well as the National Playwrights Conference, and there are lots of fun overlaps betweens these programs as well as a lot of high-quality work to witness.

It is a TRULY exciting place to be during the summer, and I can't wait to get started. We are still sorting through some of the details, but it is likely I will be in residence for the entire six-week program, beginning June 14th through July 27th.

Big thank yous to Jeff Janisheski for re-hiring me this year, and to Nick Roesler for being so radical and mystical. And thank yous again to all of the 2008 crew-- the students and staff-- for such a memorable summer last year.

FORT GRISWOLD OR BUST!!

===============
ROMERO

DANDELION MOMMA Covered in the Live Arts and Fringe Festival Blog

My play, DANDELION MOMMA, got a nice story in Monday's Live Arts and Philly Fringe Festival Blog.

Brenna Schiman as "Delores"

Thank you again to The Kelly Writers House, to the wonderful artists who worked on the project, and to Jennifer Hannan for taking the time to come to the event and share her experience with others.

To read the article, go HERE.


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ROMERO

Two Plays to Open in Austin

From May 14-16, Austin performance group, Debutantes and Vagabonds presents ARE YOU ALIVE?, an evening of short, macabre performance pieces confronting the audience's awareness of whether they are really alive.


The live theatrical performances will be coupled with live music from a different Austin band each night (how Austin!).

Two of my plays, Doctor Helix and Keggy the Keg and Zombie Heart Salad Sandwich, will be part of the line-up.

Doctor Helix was written as a Christmas gift for a brother in law (the title character is based on him-- the doctor, not the anthromorphic beer keg). Zombie was written as part of a city-wide "Bake-Off" project I organized in Philadelphia in February. Both are dark and funny and strange (both plays involve people/things being tied up and abused), and are being fully produced for the first time (Zombie was read out loud during Philadelphia's New Play Initiative Conference).

I unfortunately will not be in attendance for this production, as I am always looking for an excuse to go down to Austin and see good friends and take in the wonderful Austin air. It is my hope that friends still in A-Town will go out and check out the show in my stead.

Big thank yous to Frank Rodriguez for asking me to send him some plays to consider for this project, and to him and Amanda Garfield for selecting these plays and putting so much work into them.

The show funs May 14-16 in the Rollins Theater in The Long Center for the Performing Arts (701 W Riverside).

Here is the info from the producers....

===========================

DOUBLE STEREO and DEBUTANTES & VAGABONDS have co-produced three (3) nights of theater and live music at the Long Center for the Performing Arts on May 14th – 16th with White Ghost Shivers, The Georgian Company, and Scott H. Biram.

Directed by Amanda Garfield and Paula Russell, "Are You Alive" presents an evening of twisted theatre (macabre vignettes written by Hunter Davis, Aimee Gonzalez, Fred Jones IV, Francisco Rodriguez, Greg Romero, and Sarah Saltwick) that will leave the audience wondering what it really means to be alive. Each performance will feature live music from a different Austin band.

* Thursday, May 14th - White Ghost Shivers *

* Friday, May 15th - The Georgian Company *

* Saturday, May 16th - Scott H. Biram *

After each show, the Tiniest Bar in Texas will host a party with complimentary beer and alcohol.

**Performances begin at 8PM and tickets are $15. For tickets or more information, please visit www.dnvtheatre.com.**

==========================

If you are on Facebook, go to event page, HERE.


Rock on,

ROMERO

Saint Joseph's Students ROCK Their Final Projects

On Thursday, May 7th, students of the "Introduction to Theater" course at Saint Joseph's University presented their final projects before an audience of their supportive and enthusiastic classmates (and me).

Their final projects were to take at least three of the (nine) plays we've read over the course of the semester, to smash them together in some way, and create a performance out of their collision. The rest of the details were up to them.

The biggest expectations I impressed upon them was to make use of what they'd learned over the course of the semester about the plays they've read, their understanding of the uniquely theatrical elements ("what is theater?"), their observations made from witnessing live events, and their in-class experiences with performance, somehow creatively expressing all of this semester-long learning in a 15-20 minute original work of live performance.

But most importantly, I just wanted them to have fun engaging their own creativity.

I deeply believed in all of them, yet the class still exceeded my expectations.

And because I am so thrilled with the projects they came up with and presented to each other on Thursday, I wanted to share them publicly.

Project One was an episode of "Celebrity Jeopardy", hosted by Alex Trebek, with contestants Romeo, Georges Seurat, and Willy Loman. They answered questions from categories like "Plays by Stephen Sondheim", "Shakespearian Tragedies", humorously expressing the tragic flaws of all three of these leading men. Loman wins the final, decisive round, as Romeo and Seurat (bursting into song) both answer incorrectly the question, "what is theatre?". Loman is thrilled that he can now support his family and tell his boss to stick it.

Project Two was a parallel telling of three plays-- Crimes of the Heart, Romeo and Juliet, and Oedipus Rex, as Mafia/crime family adaptations. Re-imagining the McGrath sisters as "three incompetent New Jersey brothers who eagerly await the return of their father from prison", Crimes of the Cannoli was a five-minute play exploring the "main themes of family, loyalty and misfortune". Group Two's second play re-visioned the opening moment of Romeo and Juliet with servants Sampson and Gregory and Montague kinsman Benvolio instead as two warring mafia families (the Lucianos and Costellos), with "Vinnie"/Benvolio as an associate from the Luciano family. A fight breaks out (instigated by "Frankie"/Tybalt), prompting the head of the Gambino family (Prince Escalus as "Nicky Gambino") to threaten the warring families into peace with each other. Their third adaptation was the moment in which Tiresius (as wise "Dr. Milano") reveals the prophecy to Oedipus/"Vinnie Bruno" about his doomed fate as his wife/mother Jocasta/"Concetta Bruno" attempts to console him.

Project Three presented two short plays-- a smashing together of two plays each. The first, Romeo & Juliet: The Seven Year Itch, transformed the final moment of A Doll's House, expressing the Ibsen's Torvald and Nora through Shakespeare's young lovers, thirteen years after their re-imagined union in the Elizabethan tragedy. Juliet tells Romeo she's leaving, that she knows of his affair with Rosalind, and that the young lovers have grown older and distant. She exits amidst Torvald/Romeo's protests, slamming the door in his face. The group's second piece places Crimes of the Heart's Babe (McGrath) Botrelle in a therapy session with Equus's Martin Dysart, in which they both continue to question and come to an understanding about healing and passion and "normal" behavior.

Project Four, titled: Attrition, imagines Babe Botrelle again, this time during her fifth year of institutionalization in Whitfield Asylum. She's visited by Dora Strang, five years after the final curtain of Equus (and now separated from her husband) on a soul-saving mission to the mental hospital. The students took a lot of inspiration from Shaffer's use of space, creating in the classroom an encircled playing area in which the two live actors were divided by a single partition (a piano bench). The third performer (a member of the SJU Softball team and out of town at a tournament) was summoned via an Ipod and narrated the emotional action through the character of Tartuffe's Elmire Pernelle (and in ryhming couplets!). As Babe and Dora gained emotional closeness, the actors invisibly crept forward in their rolling chairs, expressing their emotional distance physically (they also changed time and space during sections of the play by adjusting themselves differently in their chairs and directly addressing the audience with their inner thoughts).

Project Five was a couples group therapy session led by Equus's Martin Dysart. The play opens with Dysart questioning his ability to counsel while the four couples all sit on stage, much like the chorus/horses in Shaffer's drama. Dysart attempts to counsel the Helmers (Nora and Torvald), the Lomans (Willy and Linda), the Maxsons (Troy and Rose from August Wilson's Fences), and Georges Seurat and his pregnant mistress, Dot. The couples find places of intersection and disconnect (even within themselves-- Willy continues searching for his brother Ben, Georges at one point places a cardboard cut-out of himself while he leaves to "finish the hat"), eventually resisting Dysart's counsel and exit, leaving the psychiatrist to contine questioning himself alone on stage.


In short, the students did wonderful work digging into their creative reservoirs and birthing new ways to inhabit and present these plays. They tapped into their creativity in ways that surprised them, and expressed themselves in ways they thought impossible. And more thrilling, it was evident that were really ENJOYING it, evidenced by their hard work, attention to detail, and the sparkle in which they presented themselves.

As an additional assignment, I asked the students to reflect upon their experience working on these creative projects, and I was thrilled with their personal discoveries. Of these, I wanted to share a couple:

"After about 20 minutes into writing, we began to have a great time with the script. We were coming up with new, fresh ideas and the project did not seem to be a burden at all. The problem of not being able to write enough quickly turned into a problem of writing too much and having to edit many parts out to be conscious of time. We became so engulfed in our work that if we were permitted to, would have continued to write an entire script because we were having so much fun with it. Never did I imagine I would have this much fun with the project and so much curiosity would be sparked in me. I learned many things from this project. The main thing I learned was to approach all things with an open mind. Secondly, I learned that I had a creative side of me that I never really thought I had."

"Overall, throughout the length of the semester, I learned how theater in and of itself is a continued experience of the creative journey; and I have a much deeper appreciation for theatrical works. While I learned a great deal, I am well aware that the learning process will only continue long into the future."


These reflections from my students are the highest reward they can offer their instructor, because it demonstrates that they have been transformed by their experiences, and feel more alive because of them. Witnessing their revelations teaches me to continue to search for my own, and to continue finding the joy inside my own creative expression and teaching.

For them, it is my hope that they continue and deepen their dance with this awareness and with their creative selves, as it is clear to me that they all became brave, curious, and joyful learners, open and engaged and full of light.

Thank you again, HAWKS, for a lovely semester.

Sincerely,

ROMERO

Sending Hugs to Wesleyan

Because of an unfortunate campus tragedy at Wesleyan University on Wednesday, the production of VALENTINE'S DAY is canceled.

The bigger concerns are with the students and University community as they deal with a strange and traumatic event. I send you all my love and hugs, and hope that you are safe and surrounded by good people.

Thank you again Ben Smolen and Emily Vallillo for all that you have given me, I wish I could offer you more right now than just my play.

Sincerely,

ROMERO

VALENTINE'S DAY at Wesleyan

My solo-performance piece, VALENTINE'S DAY, goes up at Wesleyan University on Friday and Saturday, May 8th and 9th.

The piece is one that is dear to me, originally written for a friend in February 2007. Since that first production (produced by RedHouse Arts in Austin, Texas), the play has gone up once more at the Philly Fringe (September 2008, by The Burn Ward Theater Company) and I am thrilled that it continues its life.

The play is about Opal (who is one of my favorite characters I've ever written) who decides every Valentine's Day if she's going to kill herself. She makes lists, she makes pizzas, she rollerskates, and she's afraid of hula-hoops.

The project is being directed by a former student of mine from The National Theater Institute, Ben Smolen, and I trust with his talent and passion that he and actress (and fellow Wesleyan student) Emily Vallillo are doing excellent work. With the generous support of the University, I plan to Amtrack up on Saturday to Middletown to see the work they are doing, and to offer my thanks and encouragement and to continue to learn the play through them.

Thank you Ben and Emily.

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ROMERO

The Riot is The Goal

I was invited recently by the Theater Alliance of Greater Philadelphia to apply for its F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Philadelphia Theater Artist.

This is a huge honor, and one that I am not taking lightly. In general, I am not a huge fan of awards, but the Haas Award is one I believe in because its aims seem well-visioned, and because its history of winners, finalists, and semi-finalists are some of the more talented theater workers in the city of Philadelphia. It is my hope to become part of this group of honorees.

As part of the application, they asked the artists to write a 1-2 page letter to the committee, an artist's statement that tells the committee a little about ourselves and our work (which I have copied below).

Big thanks to the Theater Alliance for inviting me to apply, and for all the folks that continue to make my creative journeys so full of fun and rewards.

==============================

Dear F. Otto Haas Award Committee:

I participated recently in a riot.

On October 28th, the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series. We celebrated by running through the streets, turning over cars, setting dumpsters on fire, ripping out our souls and throwing them into the flames, screaming and beating our chests, and breaking bottles over our heads, turning the fresh blood into war paint. It was a bestial, untamed expression of human exuberance— a triumphant, barbaric yawp shattering the body through our collective vibrating voice screaming as loudly as possible. That night we were a feral animal expressing itself through a sentient mind. This is the beauty of being human—the glory of being both wild and introspective.

That night changed me. And it keeps me thinking about my own art and its ability to move and transform people, leading me to this missive:

If it creates anything less than a riot (internally or externally), the play is a failure.

The riot becomes the goal— for the process, the performance, and the aftermath; a transformative, dangerous event, uncontainable, uniquely alive, exhilarating, and life-changing: a razor-edged rite of passage for the soul.

With this introduction, it is with great pleasure that I write to you about myself, my body of work, and my goals for the future. I thank you for nominating me for the F. Otto Haas Award and am humbled by my inclusion to an impressive roster of Philadelphia artists whose work I greatly respect.

As for myself, I have worked in many different ways in the professional theater, but I apply to you foremost as a playwright.

I have been fully dedicated to writing for the theater since 2003, completing seven full-length plays: The Shelter (2002), The Mishumaa (2003), The Most Beautiful Lullaby You’ve Ever Heard (2005), Dandelion Momma (2006), The Milky Way Cabaret (2007), Belize’s Place (2008) and The Travel Plays: An American Potlatch Road-trip (2009).

These plays, along with a number of one-act and shorter works, have been produced off-off Broadway by City Attic Theatre and Working Man’s Clothes Productions, as well as across the country by Salvage Vanguard Theater, Rude Mechanicals Theatre Collective, and Theater In My Basement, among others.

My work explores memory, imagination, pain, dreams, rites of passage, the overlapping of time, and the flawed and fascinating guts and souls of human beings. My characters are troubled, resilient, scarred, searching, trapped, tied to chairs, historical icons, lovers, killers, magicians, ghosts, beauty queens, animals, musicians, children, time travelers, dreamers—all bravely taking on impossible, necessary journeys. They speak to each other through time, dimension, ocean waves, black holes, gesture, lines in their bodies, holes in their chests, silences, holograms, and their deepest regrets. Inspired and haunted by space, I have created work performed in theaters, elevators, porches, warehouses, loft apartments, punk stages, museums, sidewalks, hotels, basement crawl spaces, and public bathrooms.

I believe in cross-disciplinary collaboration, and have worked several times with electronic music composer/sound artist Mike Vernusky on live performance projects including The Book of Remembrance and Forgetting (with choreographer Ray Eliot Schwarz, 2004), The Eulogy Project (with opera-trained performer Jorge Sermini, 2005), and currently, Radio Ghosts, in a form we are calling “electro-theater”, a performance limbus between written text, recorded electronic sound, and live performance.

Since 2003, my work has been recognized with commissions from The Cardboard Box Collaborative, Austin Script Works, and Audacity Theatre Lab, and has been honored as a finalist for the Heideman Award, and a semi-finalist for the Princess Grace Award.

After living for several years in Austin, I moved to Philadelphia in the summer of 2007 to take on the professional challenge of creating work in a bigger, tougher, more explosive environment, while taking on the personal challenge of living in a new city in a new part of the country (I was born and raised in the Southern United States).

In short— I moved to a city that riots over baseball championships, but also to a city that I feel is ready and willing to riot over transcendent theater. With the help of other talented Philadelphia artists, it is my goal to tap into that same vein that bulges from the flushed forehead of Edwin Forrest, creating an Astor Place riot of the soul, quaking the city’s creative culture into an even louder roaring animal.

I have been working to stoke my own creative fires during my two years in Philadelphia, enjoying local productions with The Cardboard Box Collaborative, Philadelphia Dramatists Center, and The Burn Ward Theater Company, as well as developmental projects with Plays & Players, and The Kelly Writers House. Most recently, I was selected as the first-ever Resident Writer of the ArtsEdge Residency, created by The Kelly Writers House and The University of Pennsylvania—a one-year residency awarded to an emerging Philadelphia writer to support the creation and sharing of new work and to build bridges between the artistic communities of the University of Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia at-large.

During the past two years, I have also continued to stay active on the national level, guiding my plays into productions with Actor’s Theater of Louisville, Specific Gravity Ensemble (Louisville), Audacity Theatre Lab (Dallas), Cisne Negro Productions (Austin) and City Theater Company (Wilmington, Delaware) and through development with The Dramatists Guild of America and City Attic Theatre in New York City.

My creative work also extends into the classroom, where I have taught at The Wilma Theater, The University of Pennsylvania, The University of the Arts, and Saint Joseph’s University, as well as the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Memorial Theater. My goals in the classroom are the same as in my creative projects—to provoke, to challenge, to learn, to listen, to enjoy being in a shared space as completely as possible with other engaged and interested humans as we dig as deeply and as actively as we can into our own guts.

And while I am active as a teacher, the artistic body of work I am creating has been possible due to my long-standing commitment to seeking no more than part-time employment. I scrap out a living (and sometimes I don’t), giving myself the continual challenge of hustling for work, living simply, eschewing routine, and staying creatively hungry. This commitment has borne itself out in a number of rewarding ways—with the creation of many new projects, with the development of numerous new professional relationships, with the time to dedicate to the advancement of my art and myself as a human, with the continual surprises that come with a creative lifestyle—all of which help me keep pushing against the edge of expectation until it topples over and something new and incredible busts out of the broken pieces.

The generous support provided by the F. Otto Haas Award would afford me to continue this commitment for at least a full calendar year, while offering the invaluable resource of time. These resources would allow my full attention to the completion of multiple projects already in progress (Radio Ghosts, and The Journey), the further development of recently completed works (The Travel Plays, Belize’s Place, and Dandelion Momma) and the presentation of live productions (an electro-theater version of The Most Beautiful Lullaby You’ve Ever Heard, a Philadelphia production of Zombie Heart Salad Sandwich, and a second production for The Milky Way Cabaret in Dallas). A continued year of full-time creative work will also, undoubtedly, lead me to find even more creative opportunities for the following, successive years.

Lastly, in addition to the financial, temporal and motivational resources the Haas Award provides, it will offer me the immeasurable opportunity, as an emerging artist, to introduce myself more fully to the artists, theater workers, and audience in this city whom I don’t know, and who don’t know my work yet. The Haas Award will challenge me to a higher standard of working, and put me in conversation with Philadelphia’s most talented, most dedicated artists, helping me find fellow conspirators willing to inspire one another to find the place in us where the riots live, the ways in which to unleash these riots into performance, and the means to incite them in our audience, who will carry the transformation with them, euphoric and changed, into the Philadelphia streets.

I thank you in advance for considering me for this award, and I look forward to hearing from you. I wish you all the best of luck with this project, and I thank you again for the opportunity to share my work with you.

Sincerely,

Greg Romero

THE RIDE at Saint Joseph's University

My one-act play, The Ride, will play Friday, May 1st at 7:30 pm at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. The production is part of "Senior Projects in Performing Arts", a public forum for senior fine and performing arts majors to showcase their work.

The play is directed by SJU senior Edwin Lashley, and is performed by Lashley and fellow fine and performing arts major Reid Smith.

This work is one of my first plays-- completed eight years ago in 2001-- and has played to audiences in Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Austin, Denver, and Marietta, Ohio. It is based on the 1984 capital murder trial of Calvin Burdine, in which his court-appointed attorney fell asleep while defending him. Calvin, who pled "not guilty", is still in prison and will be for the remainder of his life.

The writing of this work was made possible by Mr. Burdine himself, as well as his new attorney, Robert McGlasson. I thank them again for their guidance and help and bravery.

I am happy that this story will be told again before an audience, and I look forward to continuing to learn the play through the choices made by these young artists.

Thank you to Renee Dobson, head of the Fine and Performing Arts Department, for requesting my plays for the students to work on, and big thank yous to Edwin and Reid for the work they've put into the project.

For those of you in Philadelphia, I'd love for you to attend the event. It will be free, and, as always, it is nice to see friendly faces in the audience. You can check out the rest of the details on the Facebook event page.


ROMERO

DANDELION MOMMA to play at the Kelly Writers House

On Monday April 20th, I am presenting a staging of Dandelion Momma, a play written during the summer of 2006. While in Austin, I worked on this play previously with Yellow Tape Construction Company (you can read an interview of the process), and have been looking for opportunity to get back to the play for the past three years. The ArtsEdge Residency provides me a wonderful opportunity to step back into this play, to continue to learn what its worlds are, and to listen to what these characters need.

Director Julianna Taylor and actress Faith Taylor (as Delores) in the 2006 workshop presentation (Yellow Tape Construction Company; Austin TX. Photo by Wylie Maercklein)

The April staging will take place outdoors in the garden of the Kelly Writers House (Philadelphia) and will be directed by Wally Zialcita.

The play's action takes place all on the same porch in the southern United States, but told through three different sets of characters over three different time periods. It is also largely my second attempt at a "great depression" play.

I have always liked Dandelion Momma (the young character, Delores, has always been one of my favorites), but have not taken enough time to fully develop it. I look forward to the work ahead on it, and to sharing it with another audience.

A short description of the play:

An eight year-old girl takes care of wayward dandelions and sees the lights inside of people. A farm girl and a writer search for life inside of each other while planting seeds in the hardened soil of the Great Depression. A one-hundred year-old woman reflects back on her life through broken pieces of memory. The ground becomes harder, the girl becomes tired, the air becomes heavier, and something new must be born.

More details will be posted as they come. In the meantime, feel free to check out the event page on the KWH website.

(Big thank yous to Jessica Lowenthal and Erin Gautsche.)

===============
ROMERO

The First Complete Journey of THE TRAVEL PLAYS

Last night, Saturday March 7, 2009, I finished the short play, "Schuylkill River", the 37th and final "travel play" in a series of works that journey from the Walt Whitman Bridge in Philadelphia, through both the mythical and real Ozona, Texas, and back to the "Cradle of Liberty".

Along the way, the plays move through Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and back through Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. All tolled, the trip covers over 4,000 miles, traveling through 32 cities in ten different states.

During the trip, we meet: Walt Whitman, Two Orioles, A Faceless Man, Martha Washington, Hercules, Robert E. Lee, a Giant Elephant, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Andrew Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, Ted DiBiase, Ted DiBiase Jr, aTrumpeter, Willie Nelson, Jimmie Rodgers, Howlin' Wolf, Bjork, the Statue and Ghost of Davy Crockett, the Statue and Ghost of Elizabeth Crockett, identical-twin political scientists, John F. and Jacqueline Kennedy, Andy Kaufman dressed as Elvis Presley, Dr. Martin Luther King disguised as Jerry Lawler, General Lafayette, Jimmy Winkfield and his horse, Joni Mitchell and her smokes, Terry Funk, a one-armed Stonewall Jackson, Wilt Chamberlain, two thousand giant bears, conjoined twins, a Blue Whale, Hiawatha, George Washington, a deer, the ghosts of two first-graders, and the SS United States (and others).

And the best part is that all 37 plays were inspired by and made possible by gifts from 37 different friends (or groups of friends).

I have been writing these plays since the summer of 2008 and have enjoyed every minute of it.

This first completed collection will always be, foremost, a gift. And now, secondly, a possibility, in whose continued life the gift will keep on giving.

In January 2009, a team of collaborators and I began the first three-dimensional exploration of these plays. With the help and support of The Kelly Writers House and Philadelphia Dramatists Center, we staged the first 14 plays and read the remaining 12 that were written at that time. We learned a great deal about these impossible plays and the impossible amount of imagination they require to fully come to life. Because these plays were never intended to be staged-- they were always intended to exist only as gifts-- there was never any attempt on my part to observe some of the normal constrictions that theatrical writing insists upon. The result is that we are faced with a seemingly unachievable and glorious challenge of imagining how to present and express these impossible works/gifts. A challenge that will require the full strength of our imagination, which is exactly what I could have hoped for.

As they stand now, the 37 plays are a dream-like journey through American history, geography, people, and possibility, exploring time and place and gift-giving. It is my hope that, through continued work and development, they will become even more.

I look forward to the journeys ahead for these plays, and thank everyone again for their gift. It is my hope that this return offering is worthy.

The full sojourn of The Travel Plays's first leg:

The Plays and The Gift-Givers:

1. Walt Whitman Bridge, for Sarah Bowden
2. George C. Platt Memorial Bridge, for Christiana Molldrem
3. Abingdon, for Brian and Jamie Grace-Duff
4. Crossville, for Marshall "Spaz" Richard
5. Huntsville, for Gigi Naglak
6. Guntown, for Joy Cutler
7. Lake Lamar Bruce, for Eve Tulbert
8. Fellowship and Oak, for Kristin Leahey
9. W.K. Webb Sportsplex, for Jason Tremblay
10. Tupelo, for Stephen Colella
11. Starkville, for Ruth Engel
12. Jackson, for Tim Fawkes
13. Clinton, for Kristy Chouiniere
14. New Orleans, for Rand, Barb, and Mae Harmon, and Paul Carney
15. Austin, for Shelby, Jess, and J.P Goggin (and their awesome pets)
16. Kerrville, for Lee Pucklis
17. Ozona, for Wally Zialcita
18. Barnhart, for Jessica McMichael
19. Granbury, for Robin Rodriguez
20. Dallas, for Dianna Marino
21. Sulphur Springs, for Ilana Brownstein
22. Memphis, for Jeff Williams
23. Horse Cave, for Nancy Mouton
24. Versailles, for Andrew J. Merkel
25. Chilesburg, for Cherie A. Roberts
26. Weston, for Larry McGonigal
27. Morgantown, for Tim Long
28. Paw Paw, for Tim Errickson
29. Funkstown, for Genevieve Saenz
30. Chantilly, for Mark Jude Sulllivan
31. New Freedom, for Tom Tirney
32. Hershey, for Timothy Verret
33. Deena Museum of Art, for Deena Gerson
34. Reading, for Megan Breen
35. Plymouth Meeting, for Leah Walton
36. John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge, for Paula Diehl
37. Schuylkill River, for Richard Kotulski

Thank you again.

Sincerely,

ROMERO

Zombie Heart Salad Sandwich

As part of the Inaugural Conference of Philadelphia's New Play Initiative, I collaborated (under the auspices of Philadelphia Dramatists Center) with Plays & Players to curate a "Bake-Off" event.


The Bake-Off was created partly to provide a generative/creative event to the conference, and partly to honor the conference's keynote guest, Paula Vogel. Philadelphia playwrights had from Thursday, January 12th until Sunday, January 15th to bake a totally new play (of any length), using the following ingredients (offered by Bob Jude Ferrante, Seth Rozin, and Dan Student) :

1. A zombie must, in some way, appear.

2. A chicken salad sandwich must be involved, preferably in a sexual, fetishistic or politically compromising situation. The sandwich can have capers on it, but they are optional.

3. He/she was abused, as a child, by a trusted neighbor.


The event yielded almost TWENTY new plays (including mine, Zombie Heart Salad Sandwich), and we had an incredibly fun time reading as many of them as possible that Sunday afternoon.

Three of the plays were selected for inclusion in Plays & Players's upcoming Mmmmm Brains New Play Festival (March 20 & 27), and it is my hope that the other plays created that weekend will all live on as well (because they were all so good!). It was a really encouraging, fun event, full of discovery, surprises, and many new friendships.

Fuck yeah, new plays.

Rock on,

ROMERO

Dream Like a King

Thank you, Dr. King. Happy Birthday!


-----------
ROMERO

9 Assumptions about Writing Plays

To end the year 2008, I'm posting an in-class assignment I gave myself and my UArts students. In response to Jose Rivera's "36 Assumptions about Writing Plays", each of us came up with nine of our own. I offer mine (and would love to know yours):

1. The play must be impossible to exist in any other form.

2. The play must make us all experience pain in some kind of satisfying, delightful, intense and memorable way.

3. It should have an elephant in it.

4. People who see it should revisit the play in their dreams.

5. If it creates anything less than a riot (internally or externally) the play is a failure.

6. Every play should risk everything.

7. It should be written free of embarrassment, but instead, a proclaiming of everything the writer is ashamed of loving deeply.

8. It is not a play if there is no death or birth.

9. The form of the play follows the content, which obeys the characters-- a chambered nautilus, ever expansive, working itself from the inside out.



ROMERO

Thank You to UArts

I have decided not to return to The University of the Arts for the spring 2009 semester.

I have already told my current students the news, which was a difficult moment. By and large, the University of the Arts students are bright, creative, talented, hard-working, sincere, and highly fun young people. Affectionately called "The Space Cadets", I have loved my students dearly and will miss them like crazy. It is because of them more than anything that I almost talked myself out of this decision numerous times.

I've also continually been impressed with the level of talent among the faculty, and sincerely believe in the school's president, Sean Buffington. The University of the Arts is a quality institution and I am grateful for the opportunity I had to teach there. I regret that there wasn't more opportunity for me within the university.

Thank you to Gene Terruso for hiring me, and thank you to Charlie Gilbert for keeping me aboard once he took over as Director of the School of Theater. I appreciate the risk each took on such a young teacher.

My experience as UArts has undoubtedly made me a better teacher and a better artist. I appreciate the opportunity and space that UArts gave me to explore teaching as a creative activity, and to apply my own ideas of art and live performance into the classroom. On a good day, the classroom felt more like a playground, which continued to be a fun discovery.

A moment in "Survey of Theater Arts", December 2008

I thank all of my students for making the experience fun, for answering the challenges we gave each other, for continuing to surprise me with their creativity, for their energy, for the willingness to learn, for their trust, and for a number of truly purposeful moments that I will always remember. It was a privilege to work with them and learn from them.

It is my hope to continue friendships with the people I've met through The University of the Arts because UArts is a place full of talented, engaging people. I feel fortunate to have participated and contributed to such a vital, energetic, educational atmosphere.

Thank you.

Sincerely,


ROMERO

THE TRAVEL PLAYS Journey to The Kelly Writers House

In the season of gift-giving, it is a fitting time to announce that my project, The Travel Plays, will be presented in January 2009, at The Kelly Writers House.

Hot!

In the spring of 2008, I was raising money to travel to Dallas, Texas for the production of my play, The Most Beautiful Lullaby You've Ever Heard (produced by Audacity Theater Lab). I approached a number of friends and told them if they donated money, I would re-pay their gift by writing a play just for them.

31 generous friends responded, giving me the task of writing 31 custom-made plays.

And because I wanted to honor the theme of traveling, I figured out a process by which these plays themselves could travel through the country. I did the math, figuring out how much money I needed to get to Dallas, and then calculated how many miles a dollar could earn (one dollar equaled five miles). Then I mapped out gifts chronologically by receipt date, and figured out which cities these gifts landed on. I determined I would write a play for that particular donor about the particular place their gift traveled me to.

For example, the first gifts I got were two single dollar bills in an envelope, a dollar each from Philadelphia theater artists Sarah Bowden and Christiana Molldrem. Mapping out the first five miles from my house got me to the Walt Whitman Bridge, which became the setting for Sarah's play. Five miles beyond that, Christiana's gift traveled me to The George C. Platt Memorial Bridge.

And so on.

At the time of this blog, I've written 16 of the 31 plays, and have had an extraordinarily fun time with them. It has my pleasure to create these theatrical gifts for friends, and I am thrilled that they will be presented to the public (which is another gift-exchange).

It is my hope that we have a full audience, and I hope the audience is full of as many of the 31 folks for whom this project is inspired by.

I am collaborating with two organizations on this project-- The Kelly Writers House, and Philadelphia Dramatists Center, who will act as co-producers.

The plays, as a collection, have become a really fun journey through place and time and American history.

The project will be as much of an exploration as it will be a presentation (we have no idea what form some of these plays will take), and is being directed by Wally Zialcita.

Wally and I are currently putting together an ensemble of brave actors to play roles such as Walt Whitman, An Oriole, A Faceless Man, Robert E. Lee, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Ulysses Grant, Ted DiBiase, Willlie Nelson, Martha Washington, Hercules, Jimmie Rodgers, Howlin' Wolf, Alexander Pope, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Bjork, and a Giant Elephant.

We are performing at the following time and place:

Thursday, January 22nd. 7:30 pm
The Kelly Writers House
3805 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, 19104

The event is FREE and there will be snacks!!

Big thank yous again to all of the gift-givers:

Sarah Bowden, Megan Breen, Ilana Brownstein, Kristy Chouiniere, Stephen Collela, Joy Cutler, Ruth Engel, Tim Errickson, Tim Fawkes, Shelby, Jessica and J.P. Goggin, Jamie and Brian Grace-Duff, Richard Kotulski, Kristin Leahey, Tim Long, Larry McGonigal, Jess McMichael, Andy Merkel, Christiana Molldrem, Nancy Mouton, Gigi Naglak, Lee Pucklis, Marshall "Spaz" Richard, Cherie A. Roberts, Robin Rodriguez, Genevieve Saenz, Jason Tremblay, Eve Tulbert, Timothy Verret, Leah Walton, Jeff Williams, and Wally Zialcita.

And thank you to The Kelly Writers House for their continued support of my work.

rock on,


ROMERO

TWO BUBBLES Tops the Century

This week my ten-minute play, TWO BUBBLES, went over the century-mark for sales through Playscripts, Inc.

Brendan Ahearn, Tiffany Feng, Brad McEntire, Laurie Farris, Jeff Hernandez, and Shannon Marie in Two Bubbles, Audacity Productions / Rover Dramawerks, Plano, Texas (2002). Photo: Carol Rice.

Hot!

I have no idea if this is a high figure or not, but the 104 copies have be sold beginning August 12th when the anthology, Great Short Comedies: Volume 3, went on the market.

If you buy a copy, you'll be giving at least ELEVEN holiday gifts all at once (you, me, and the other nine writers of the anthology).

So do it!

And Happy Holidays!


rock on,

ROMERO

SHOVEL to play in New Orleans

Just on the heels of its recent September production in the Philly Fringe, my piece SHOVEL will be performed in New Orleans in November, 2008.

Hot!

SHOVEL will be part of a production called "The Top Secret Play Project: Something for Odile" as it was originally written as part of a series of commissioned works specifically for performer Odile Del Giudice as a birthday present.

The piece is being produced by Del Giudice and Briana McKeague of Cisne Negro Productions, based in Austin, Texas, as part of the New Orleans Fringe Festival. I am thrilled that this piece will continue its life, especially through the performance of the actress it was originally created for.

McKeague and Del Giudice of Cisne Negro Productions

I'm also thrilled that this is one of the few times my work has gone up in my home state of Louisiana (and the first time my work will be seen in New Orleans!), which means some of my family might be able to see my work in production, and that makes me happy.

The show will perform three times at the Hi-Ho Lounge, a live music venue on St. Claude Ave:

Thursday, November 13 @ 8:30 pm
Saturday, November 15 @ 7:30 pm
Sunday, November 16 @ 5:00 pm

You can check out more information about the project, by clicking on the New Orleans Fringe Festival, the Top Secret Play Project, or the complete show listings in the festival.

Big thank yous to Odile and Briana for their work!

rock on,


ROMERO

I Will Be Teaching Quakers

Beginning in January, 2009, I will begin teaching in the Creative Writing program at The University of Pennsylvania. I am STOKED about this, and hope to make my creative writing class as creative as possible.

My class is called, "Creative Writing: Space, Place, and Character in Playwriting and Fiction" and has the following course description:

This course will take a close look at the relationships of space, place and character in the effort to illuminate, appreciate, and explore the differences and similarities in Playwriting and Fiction. Weekly writing exercises will allow you to look as three-dimensionally and as actively as possible at various physical spaces, using them as a ground to form your short plays and short fiction. Through writing assignments, we’ll ask what is a "theater" space? How do different uses of space change the writing, and vice versa? What kinds of writing/language do specific spaces inspire? What kinds of character?

Coursework will also involve readings of plays, short fiction, and articles/manifestos/dialogues about writing and space. Through in-class and out-of-class assignments, students will generate a large volume of work, turning in a 20-25-page portfolio of their own short plays and fiction at the end of the semester.

...........................

If anyone reading this (or has a friend who) is a student at UPenn, you should totally take this class. You can go to the departmental page here.

Thank you to Jessica Lowenthal, Director of Kelly Writers House; and Greg Djankian, Director of the Creative Writing Program, for making me part of the team. I am totally looking forward to it.

Rock on,

ROMERO

On the Board

In late September, I was elected to the Board of Directors of Philadelphia Dramatists Center. I am very thankul for this opportunity and look forward to continuing to contribute to this organization now from a leadership position.

This year's board has an exciting task-- to develop and create the organization's new strategic plan. This new plan will reflect the organization's goals to expand and offer increased and varied services for the playwrights in Philadelphia and the surrounding area.

As for my part, it is my goal to contribute by organizing a least one new forum (in addition to the ones already in place) for playwrights to develop and explore their plays (a Writer's Laboratory, modeled in part on the "Monday Night Lab" I helped organize at The University of Texas); to help create and manage a National Advisory Board; to foster relationships between PDC and local producing companies and organizations (such as The Kelly Writers House), and to continue to identify and recruit new, talented member writers and theater artists to the organization.

I am thrilled to be part of this work, and look forward to continuing to help the organization grow and to continue to help Philadelphia find its legs as a "new play" culture.

Big thank yous to Richard Kotulski for asking me to submit my name for consideration, and to the organization's members for voting me in.

Sincerely,


ROMERO

I am Moving to ArtsEdge

Dear Friends,

On October 1st, I will be moving.

I will leave my familiar digs of South Philly/Beck Street, to head to West Philadelphia. I am moving because I was recently selected as the FIRST-ever Resident Writer for a project called ArtsEdge, a new program created by the Kelly Writers House and the University of Pennsylvania.

The program is designed with a couple major aims in mind: to nurture cross-disciplinary art collaborations and to build bridges between UPenn and the artistic community of Philadelphia at-large. To do this, they're partially-subsidizing an apartment in West Philly, which will house myself and a visual artist, encouraging her and I to create at least one on-going project together that can be shared with the community.

The visual artist (her name is Adrienne Gale and her work is really impressive) and I will also receive dedicated studio space (for free) with several other artists as part of the 40th Street Artists project. The residency lasts until the end of August, 2009.

In conjunction with this, starting in the spring, I will be teaching a class in the Creative Writing department of The University of Pennsylvania. Which means, I'll be teaching at an IVY LEAGUE school. Holy cow!!!

All of this is very exciting to me and this opportunity should continue to push me towards becoming a better artist and a better human. Additionally, West Philly is my favorite part of the city (because its creativity, activity, and beauty makes it feel like Austin to me) and I will be much happier living there.

Big thank yous to the awesome people at Kelly Writers House (Jessica Lowenthal and Erin Gautsche), The Rotunda (Gina Renzi) and the Creative Writing Program at UPenn (Greg Djanikian) for making this possible. Huge thank yous as well to Philadelphia artist Rebecca Ennen for sending me ArtsEdge's original call for artists.

My new address (home also of my new writing studio), come and visit me there!!!

4007 Chestnut St
Philadelphia PA 19104

rock on,

ROMERO

LULLABY in Video Documentary

The good folks of Audacity Theatre Lab have posted a wonderful mini-documentary about their production of The Most Beautiful Lullaby You've Ever Heard in May 2008 in Dallas, Texas. The documentary features pieces of the performance, rehearsal, interviews, etc. and gives a taste of what ATL's production was like, and who these lovely people are.

You can view the documentary by clicking here.

Thank you to Brad McEntire and company for their continued good work on that production.

Rock on,


ROMERO

SHOVEL Opens in the Philly Fringe

Just as Valentine's Day closed, my short play, Shovel, opens in the Philly Fringe as part of 4 x 4, a staging of four short new plays in four different and environmental 4-foot by 4-foot spaces in Plays and Players Theater.



The production opened on Sunday, September 7th and runs through Saturday, September 13th.

I attended the production Sunday evening and enjoyed traveling through the multiple environments of Plays and Players and seeing the numerous creative uses of theatrical space. I appreciate this production's innovation, and I thank collaborators Andrew J. Merkel (director) and Cherie A. Roberts (performing the role of "Elida") for their hard work.

For additional information about the show, you can visit HERE.

For a direct link to tickets and information via the Philly Fringe Festival website, click HERE.

Rock on,

ROMERO

VALENTINE'S DAY Opens in the Philly Fringe

As part of the project, Mittens Descending and Other Tales, my short one-act play, Valentine's Day, opens on Friday, September 5th and runs for four performances this weekend. Heck yeah.

I've had a good time working with The Burn Ward Theater Company as they've proven to be a talented, resourceful, creative, lovely group of young theater artists. I am happy to be getting to know them and their work.

I've also enjoyed my continued collaboration with director Andrew J. Merkel and thank actress Molly Casey for her brave work in the role of the suicidal, rollerskating, pizza-making, hula-hooping character, "Opal".

I always welcome a new process, as each time I work on my plays I discover something new about them and find ways to make them stronger and braver. This process has been no different, and I thank Andy, Molly, (production designer) Cherie A. Roberts, and The Burn Ward, for continuing to teach me about the play, for helping me find the play's guts, and for making clear where the stronger choices were inside of the work.

I look forward to the performances and hope to continue a friendship with everyone involved.

Details about the production below:

..............................................................................

Mittens Descending and Other Tales
Friday, September 5th, 7:00 pm and 10:00 pm
Saturday, September 6th, 7:00 pm and 10:00 pm

Plays and Players Theater
1714 Delancey St
Philadelphia PA

The PLAYS:

Mittens Descending by Eamon R. McIvor
A tale of bipolar rocker Lenny. Lenny has just been dumped by his goth chic girlfriend, Rebecca. He's hell-bent on getting her back, so he enlists the help of his childhood imaginary friend, a militaristic cat named Mittens. It's "Harvey" meets "Hot Topic" in this demented tale about the redeeming power of creepy love.

Big Red Button by Eamon R. McIvor
A short play about what really happens if you press the infamous big red button.

Valentine’s Day by Greg Romero
Opal decides every Valentine's Day if she's going to kill herself. This year, she makes lists, she makes pizzas, she rollerskates, and she's afraid of hula-hoops.

To purchase tickets or for more information, click HERE

...............................

Rock on,

ROMERO

I'm a Saint Joseph's University Hawk

Wednesday, September 3rd was my first day teaching at Saint Joseph's University. Home of the "Hawks", St. Joe's is a wonderful, liberal-arts based, Jesuit-founded/influenced university. I am teaching two courses, "Introduction to Theater Arts" and "American Theater". My students are mostly new to theater, whose majors range from Fine and Performing Arts (there is no "theater" major at SJU) to Health, to Management, to Accounting, to Marketing, to Psychology, to Elementary Education. This means that my course "Introduction to Theater" truly lives up to its name. I look forward to bringing theater to these students, and see it as an opportunity to help them find their creative core, as well as continue my work bringing theater into more cultural conversations in this country.

I'm one of only three faculty members (the others are an Associate Professor and a Technical Director) on the Theater Arts department, and look forward to helping this program grow into an even more active, more rigorous place of learning.

I am also happy that my teaching opportunities continue to grow, and that they continue to provide me with my own opportunities for learning and growth.

Rock on,

ROMERO

Returning for Another Year at U/Arts

After a wonderful first year of teaching at The University of the Arts, I am returning to reprise my position as "Lecturer" at the University's School of Theater Arts. I will again be teaching "Survey of Theater Arts", which I enjoyed immensely, largely because of my bright, enthusiastic, creative, big-hearted, brave, and hilarious students.

I am grateful to be re-hired, and look forward to meeting this year's class and to keeping in touch with last year's group. I also look forward to continuing to learn how to grow as a teacher, how best to engage with my students, and how all of these things can continue to feed my art and my life.

Rock on,

ROMERO

TWO BUBBLES Now In Print!

My ten-minute play, Two Bubbles, is now officially published by Playscripts, Inc.

Heck yeah!

They notified me of upcoming publication in December (2007) and the process of publication is now complete.

Brendan Ahearn, Tiffany Feng, Brad McEntire, Laurie Farris, Jeff Hernandez, and Shannon Marie in Two Bubbles, Audacity Productions / Rover Dramawerks, Plano, Texas (2002). Photo: Carol Rice.

Two Bubbles is anthologized with nine other plays in Great Short Comedies: Volume 3.

You can see all the details (as well as buy copies and license the play for production!) here:

http://www.playscripts.com/play.php3?playid=1334

Huge thank yous to all the awesome people who helped make this thing. As with all works, it took a village to create and stage this play.

From the Acknowledgements (pg 115):

Thank you Audacity Productions and Rover Dramawerks for making me stay up all night to write this play.

Thank you to Brendan Ahearn who directed the original production of this play on very little sleep. And to the six actors who first brought Mark and Sheila to life: Brad McEntire, Laurie Farris, Jeff Hernandez, Shannon Marie, Brendan Ahearn, and Tiffany Feng.

In addition to the published acknowledgements-- thank you Andrew H. Beal, Ishaq Clayton, Erin Delperdang, Matthew Dell'Olio, Jonathan Kim, Felicia Leicht, Adrienne Mackey, Kate May, Andrew J. Merkel, Sara Pauley, Cherie A. Roberts, Sarah P. Robinson, Tommy Schoffler, Jeff Swearingen, Nicole Whiteside, Olivia Whitmer, Cliff Diver Productions, rm 120 theatre, and City Theatre Company for your work on this play.

Rock on,


ROMERO

SHOVEL In Rehearsal

My project, SHOVEL, is now a couple weeks into rehearsal and I am excited about the strange and horrifying things collaborators Andrew J. Merkel (director) and Cherie A. Roberts (playing the role of "Elida") and I are discovering.

Cherie A. Roberts as "Elida" in Shovel

The piece is a solo-performance (12 - 15 minutes) that explores script and Butoh-inspired movement. We performed a work-in-progress version of it in June and have further developed it for production during the upcoming Philly Fringe Festival.

The work is very dark and dreamy and kind of its own form. I am thrilled to see how things continue to develop and, as always, am enjoying the collaboration with Andy and Cherie as we tackle another project that exposes all of us and has no real easy answers.

SHOVEL will be part of "4 x 4" at Plays and Players Theater-- specific production details to be announced soon.

Rock on,

ROMERO

My First Year in Philadelphia

I moved to Philadelphia in July 2007 to seek new adventures, relationships, opportunities, confront some fears and, after living in the South all my life (and in Austin for the previous seven years) to shake things up a little bit.

It's been a pretty good year.

I've worked on a number of my plays in production, written some new pieces, landed a number of additional production opportunities, began several challenging teaching gigs, traveled around the country, made a lot of wonderful new friends, and learned A LOT about myself.

If I can create another similarly productive year (and accrue less debt doing it), I will be a happy human.

As a highlight reel:

JULY 2007:
Moved to Philadelphia, driving cross country (beginning in Austin, stopping in Baton Rouge, Nashville, Louisville, Ann Arbor, and Pittsburgh)

City Attic Theatre toured the off-off Broadway production of my play, The Most Beautiful Lullaby You've Ever Heard, to Philadelphia for a one-night only performance (July 14th), hosted by The Cardboard Box Collaborative at Plays and Players Theater.

John Conor Brooke ("The Man"), Dianna Marino ("The Narrator"), and Lucy Walters ("The Woman")

AUGUST 2007:
Began teaching at The University of the Arts, my first University teaching job.

SEPTEMBER 2007:
Opened production of The Milky Way Cabaret, originally commissioned and produced by the Cardboard Box Collaborative, as part of the Philly Fringe Festival. The production runs for eight performances (Sep 6 - 15) at Plays and Players Theater.

Katy O'Leary ("Charlotte"), Brittany Brazill ("Lorraine"), Cherie A. Roberts ("Travlin' Alice), and Daniel Higbee ("Amazin' Arnie).

Traveled to Louisville for tech rehearsals and the opening of the second production of The Most Beautiful Lullaby You've Ever Heard, produced by Specific Gravity Ensemble. The production runs for ten performances (Sep 21 - Oct 4) at 21 c Museum/Hotel. This production becomes the first time a full-length play of mine gets a second run, and the first time I've opened two full-length plays in the same month.

Christopher Shiner ("The Man"), Julia Leist ("The Narrator"), and Jennifer Poliskie ("The Woman")

OCTOBER 2007:
My ten-minute play, Sharpen My Dick, is produced as part of "The Sex Plays" staged by City Theatre Company in Wilmington, Delaware. This is the play's second production (originally produced off-off Broadway by Working Man's Clothes in the spring of 2007).

NOVEMBER 2007:
My one-act play, Three Card Weasel, is presented as a staged reading by Philadelphia Dramatists Center as part of "4 x 4", a forum which stages new plays in a 4 foot by 4 foot space. One of the actors walked at the 11th hour, forcing me to perform for the first time in a couple of years. I was rewarded with donuts and cupcakes slammed and smeared into my face and beard (as per the script).

DECEMBER 2007:
Notified by Playscripts, Inc. that my ten-minute play, Two Bubbles, will be published as part of an anthology of the year's best short plays.


Completed first draft of first act of Radio Ghosts, a collaboration between myself, electronic music composer Mike Vernusky, and director Andrew Merkel.

JANUARY 2008:
Began my second semester teaching at The University of the Arts.

My play, Under My Coat is the Truth, opens as part of "Elevator Plays", a site-specific project produced by Specific Gravity Ensemble and performed in the elevators of the Starks Building in downtown Louisville. The production runs for 16 performances from January 25 - February 10.

My collaborative project, Radio Ghosts, is presented as a works-in-progress production at the Community Education Center in West Philadelphia on January 31st.

FEBRUARY 2008:
Radio Ghosts is performed at The Dramatists Guild of America in New York City (on Broadway!) as part of "Friday Night Footlights" on February 1. Standing room (and sitting on laps room) only.


MARCH 2008:
My site-specific project, Marco Polo, is performed in the bathrooms of the Actor's Theatre of Louisville during The Humana Festival of New Plays as part of "The Late Seating".

Completed first draft of full-length play, Belize's Place, co-written by Jason Tremblay.

Completed one-act play, LARPing, co-written by Brian Grace-Duff.

Began teaching "Playwriting Fundamentals" at The Wilma Theater, a ten-week course as part of the Wilma Studio.

Audacity Theatre Lab announces "3P/3Y" a unique commitment to produce three of my plays over the next three years.

MAY 2008:
The Most Beautiful Lullaby You've Ever Heard opens in Dallas, Texas. Produced by Audacity Theatre Lab, the show runs for ten performances from May 7 - 17, marking the play's third full production (another first for one of my plays).

Jeff Swearingen ("The Man"), Tyson Rinehart ("The Narrator"), and Paula Wood ("The Woman")

JUNE 2008:
Present ten-minute piece, Shovel, as part of Philadelphia Dramatists' Center on-going project, "4 x 4" on June 3rd.

I turn 32 years old (June 12).

Complete new ten-minute play, Ice Holes, (written in serial with two plays by Melissa Gawlowski) which is presented as a staged reading as part of City Attic Theatre's CAT Tales in New York City on June 14th.

Begin as the Playwriting Faculty for the National Theater Institute's "TheaterMakers" program at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center-- an incredible experience.

Begin teaching a ten-week Playwriting course with Philadelphia Dramatists Center.

................

Not bad a year of work. And, as much as I love Austin, this year's body of work confirms that Philadelphia is a better place for me to be at this time in my life.

With the first year of work and learning under my belt, I look forward to my second year in Philadelphia. There is still an incredible amount of learning to do about this city, its people, and the art that is being done here. I look forward to the work ahead and to continuing to be part of the city's creative heart-beat.

Rock on,


ROMERO

PlayPenn, Dramaturgy, and Breadcrumbs

I returned to Philadelphia at 5am, Thursday July 10th, from my gig at the Eugene O'Neill National Theater Institute. After an outstanding three and a half weeks working as the Playwriting Faculty for the TheaterMakers program, I began a new gig the very next day. Times are good.

After a wonderful weekend "retreat", in which the playwrights, dramaturgs, directors, and interns of the PlayPenn New Play Development Conference got to know each other, each other's work, and learn each other's drinking habits, we began rehearsals today (July 14th), officially launching the two-week new play development process for six new works.

This is a really strong group of artists, and wonderful people to boot. I continue to feel very fortunate about the opportunities I have been given and will continue to do my best to enjoy them as much as possible.

Specifically, I am the dramaturg assigned to Jennifer Haley's play, Breadcrumbs, which is a beautiful new play about a writer struggling with Alzheimer's, the young woman who tries to care for her, the fluidity of memory and our journey, as humans, to find our purpose in a very confusing and strange world. Plus, these stories are told through a fractured framework of fairy tales and gingerbread houses.

I like our creative team very much (Jennifer Haley, playwright; Katie Pearl, director) and am beyond impressed with the collection of talent gathered at this conference. I am encouraged by the continued impact that the PlayPenn Conference will have in the city of Philadelphia and on the theater community at-large.

Rock on,


ROMERO