Arizona Theatre Company, The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre and Winding Road Theater Ensemble Present ROMEROFEST

Arizona Theatre Company, in collaboration with The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre and Winding Road Theater Ensemble, is producing RomeroFest, a month-long celebration of the diverse, thoughtful and impactful works of ATC Playwright-in-Residence Elaine Romero with digital performances by theatre companies across the U.S. and in Mexico in March.

"In the American theatre, we foolishly only do celebrations of a body of work when a playwright dies or moves away. Let's not wait for either with Elaine," said ATC Artistic Director Sean Daniels. "Elaine Romero is an internationally produced and recognized playwright who chose to make Tucson her home. She has been Playwright-in-Residence at ATC for over 20 years. It's time for us to start celebrating the artists that are here, and how better to do that but by experiencing her work. She is an important voice of our generation - and just a ton of fun - so who doesn't want more Elaine around? "

Among the theatre companies presenting Romero's work virtually, either live or by video, are ATC, The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre (Tucson); Winding Road Theatre Ensemble (Tucson); Foro Shakespeare (Mexico City); Artists Repertory Theatre (Portland, OR); Seven Devils Playwrights Conference (New York); Colorado College (Colorado Springs); The Justice Theater Project (Raleigh, NC); The School of Theatre, Film and Television, University of Arizona; Teatro Milagro (Portland, OR); InterAct Theatre Company (Philadelphia); and Theatre Ariel (Philadelphia). A full list of plays and when they will be available will be announced in mid-February.

An award-winning playwright, Romero's works have been presented at ATC, The Alley Theatre (Houston), Actors Theatre of Louisville, the Kennedy Center, Goodman Theatre (Chicago) and at other theatres across the country and abroad. The ATC Playwright-in-Residence since 1998, she also is an Associate Professor at the University of Arizona's School of Theatre, Film and Television.

"When I was asked what it was like to have RomeroFest, I told one of our festival actors that it was like growing a flower inside a rock," Romero said. "I could not be more honored, humbled and brought to the kind of tears that only true acknowledgement brings by Sean Daniels dreaming up RomeroFest. It is hard to comprehend this recognition and elevation of my life's work at a time when we find ourselves working daily on the festival during the most perilous political and pandemic times."

The Festival opens March 1 at 5 p.m. with a digital "Scholar Kickoff" featuring a town hall-type panel discussion about Elaine's work and its impact. A full list of plays to be presented and schedules will be announced in February and will be available at www.arizonatheatre.org. Each participating theatre will announce the platforms on which the productions will be available. At ATC, the Festival can be viewed at www.arizonatheatre.org and on YouTube, Facebook and Vimeo.

Opening event panelists include Dr. Anne Garcia-Romero, Associate Professor, University of Notre Dame; Dr. David Crespy, Professor of Playwriting, Acting, Dramatic Literature and Theatre History at the University of Missouri, Columbia; and Dr. Jimmy Noriega, Associate Professor in the Theatre and Dance Department at Wooster College. The panel will be moderated by Tanya Palmer, Associate Professor, Head, MFA in Dramaturgy at Indiana University Department of Theatre, Drama & Contemporary Dance.

Among Romero's most important works are those included in her war pentalogy. "When I was five years old, my uncle was killed in the Vietnam War," Romero said. "I have written the War plays to understand what happened to my cousins, my extended family, my country, our world, and to him."

Plays in the collection include Graveyard of Empires (Blue Ink Playwriting Award), A Work of Art, Revolutions, When Reason Sleeps, and Martínez in Taos. Her work, Title IX, was featured at a Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference and Modern Slavewas featured at a Seven Devils Playwrights Conference.

Her play Barrio Hollywood was the first in publisher Samuel French's 175-year history to be published in both English and Spanish acting editions.

In addition to the plays being produced during the month of March, each episode of ATC's live-streaming podcast Hang & Focus will be dedicated to RomeroFest and feature guests associated with the productions.

RomeroFest founding members and theatres includes Daniels, ATC Associate Artistic Director Chanel Bragg, Winding Road Theater Ensemble Artistic Director Maria Caprile and Bryan Rafael Falcón, Artistic and Managing Director at The Scoundrel and Scamp Theatre.

For more information about Winding Road Theater Ensemble, visit www.windingroadtheater.org. For more information about The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre, visit www.scoundrelandscamp.org. For more information about Arizona Theatre Company, visit www.arizonatheatre.org.

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