Anne García-Romero
Playwright Bio
Anne García-Romero is a bi-racial Spanish-American playwright, educator and scholar. Coming from a long line of performers and artists on her father's side, she was born in Wellesley, MA and was introduced to theatre at a young age.
Ms. García-Romero got hooked on playwriting at Occidental College in Los Angeles where she received her undergraduate degree in Theatre Arts. Playwriting in Los Angeles led her to attend the Padua Hill Playwright Festival for two summer where she met and studied with María Irene Fornés. She continued to study with Fornés in the MFA Playwriting Program at Yale. She has done playwrighting residencies with the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis as a Jerome Fellow, New Dramatists, and Chicago Dramatists. She also holds a Ph.D. in Theatre Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Fully embracing an artist-scholar lifestyle, Ms. García-Romero is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre at the University of Notre Dame, specializing in playwriting, screenwriting, dramaturgy, and Latinx and Latin American Theatre Studies. She is a founding member of the Latinx Theatre Commons which seeks to raise the profiles of plays that give voice to the complex Latinx identity and community. She contributes to The Fornés Institute with the Latinx Theatre Commons and is the coordinator of the Fornés Playwriting Workshop in Chicago. Her book The Fornés Frame, published in 2016, examines the foundational frame and legacy of María Irene Fornés' playwriting and teaching through contemporary Latina playwrights.
Her plays have been produced and developed at the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater, The Mark Taper Forum, The Goodman Theatre, Hartford Stage, South Coast Repertory, Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, INTAR, Nevada Repertory Company, National Hispanic Cultural Center, and many others. Her plays have been published by Broadway Play Publishing, Playscripts, NoPassport Press and Smith & Kraus.
Highlighted Play: Santa Concepción
Synopsis
In the countryside of a Spanglish speaking land, two sisters battle their spirituality, sexuality, and culturally defined gender roles. Connie, a devout infertile virgin, waits to receive the "second" Virginal conception, while her sister, Aurora, seeks to entertain as many men as possible. When a young suitor, Reynaldo, comes to visit, the sisters' mother Delores does everything she can to get Connie to marry Reynaldo and keep Aurora away. Amidst aphrodisiac soups, prayers, and levitations, sensuality and spirituality collide as the sisters circuitously navigate their desires and purpose.
Educational Context
Santa Concepción tackles how gender roles are influenced and often constricted by religious and/or cultural expectations, specifically within the Latinx community. Students can examine the religious and cultural roots of our patriarchal society and in doing so strategize how to dismantle it. This play could also serve as an entry point into comprehensive instruction and discussion regarding sex education. Santa Concepción is also a wonderful example of a bilingual script and would be excellent in a class with English Language Leaners.
Photos by Erica Christ from the Cheap Theater production of Santa Concepción.
Discussion Questions
What was your initial impression of Santa Concepción? What questions arose for you about the piece?
How does García-Romero use nature as symbolism throughout the play?
Knowing García-Romero has mapped out the Fornés Frame with four key concepts -- cultural multiplicity, supernatural intervention, Latina identity and theatrical experimentation -- to what extent do you see these concepts reflected in Santa Concepción?
What effect did the hybrid Spanish-English language have on your experience reading the play?
The Minneapolis Star Tribune review of Santa Concepción said, "interesting archetypes are at work here, but if they were pruned and sharpened, they would be allowed to reveal themselves organically."
What archetypes do we see in Santa Concepción? How effective is Santa Concepción in portraying and challenging those archetypes?
Do you agree or disagree with the review? Why?
To what extent to do you think this play is anti-religion or pro-religion? Feminist or anti-feminist?
What relevance do the themes in Santa Concepción have today?
Sample Activity: Role on the Wall
Target Audience: This activity is designed for a high school drama or literature course.
Materials
Role on the Wall Handouts: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EIhJDdpk8U9pTzmILBotMgQAuOgktC8LPK5i_n_Sk-c/edit?usp=sharing
Post-It Notes
Procedures
Divide the students into groups of 3-4. Provide each group with 3 Role on the Wall handouts, one for each main female character in Santa Concepción: Connie, Aurora, and Delores.
In their groups, students will discuss the beliefs and objectives for each of the three women in the play.
On the inside of the head image, students will write down words or phrases that express the character's interests, beliefs or desires.
On the outside of the head image, students will write what other characters in Santa Concepción think about that character. Make sure to note which character thinks each idea.
The groups will share their responses with the whole class. The teacher will document the ideas shared on post-it notes and attach them to large poster-board versions of the Role on the Wall handout.
The teacher will go through the following prompts and ask students to identify post-it notes that relate to the prompts. Students may also choose to add additional post-it notes to the Role on the Wall from their group work to satisfy the prompts. Students should explain why they selected the post-it note for the prompt.
Identify any beliefs, desires, or interests that bring the women joy.
Identify any beliefs, desires, or interests that bring the women pain.
Identify any beliefs, desires, or interests the women have in common.
Identify interests, beliefs, and desires the characters hold to be true themselves that contradict each other, or the ideas others have about them.
Identify any post-it notes you that personally resonate with you.
Identify any post-it notes you personally disagree with or think are misguided.
Students will return to working in their groups to brainstorm what additional understandings they wished each character could have to ease their inner turmoil in the play, while still validating the character's core identities. Students should write these ideas on the back of the Role on the Wall handout for each character.
The groups will share their responses with the whole class.
Following the exercise students will have an opportunity to debrief the activity and ponder the beliefs, desires, or interests they hold for themselves.
García-Romero, A. (2008). Collected plays. NoPassport Press.
Additional Plays
Paloma
Synopsis
Paloma was written in response to the post- 9/11 climate of religious intolerance. The non-linear play explores the relationship of Ibrahim, a Muslim-American, and Paloma, a Puerto Rican, "holidays-only" Catholic. Passion is ignited as the two study a remarkable 14th century treatise on love, Ring of the Dove, written by Ibn Hazam during the period of la convivencia where Muslims, Jews, and Christians co-existed peacefully in the Andalucía region of Spain. Ibrahim and Paloma struggle to negotiate their love for one another and their commitment to their religion and heritage. When tragedy strikes the couple on a pilgrimage trip to Granada, the center of Muslim Spain in the middle ages, Ibrahim must seek the help of his friend Jared, a young Jewish attorney, to clear his name.
Educational Context
Paloma has non-linear sequencing and could be used to examine different ways to structure storytelling in playwriting. Themes of religious intolerance and religious identity weave throughout the play. This play could serve as a jumping off point for students to discuss how religious intolerances generate political conflict today as well as examine their own bias regarding religion and cultural identity. Additionally, Paloma could provide a contemporary relevance for students studying the history of 14th century Spain.
García-Romero, A. (2017, December). Paloma. Broadway Play Publishing Inc.
Photo by Susanica Tam from the LATC production of Paloma.
Girlus Equinus
Synopsis
Girlus Equinus was written for young audiences. The part fable, part realism story explores the questions: How do teenagers navigate relationships and changing bodies, all the while discovering their own identities? In present day California, Angela has been diagnosed with a rare genetic anomaly. She is part horse, part girl. As she reaches maturity her tail is growing rapidly, making it harder to hide from others, especially sexually curious boys. She has to make a decision to either have the tail removed or embrace her complete identity.
Educational Context
Girlus Equinus would be great for 4th-6th graders on the cusp of puberty. Their bodies are changing, and their hormones are raging similar to the characters in the play. This play could lead to important conversations about body differences, the unrealistic body standards that are perpetuated on social media, and the physical/emotional harm that occurs when young people feel they need to conform to those standards. An additional layer of sexual consent and physical intimacy would also be appropriate and valuable for this age group.
García-Romero, A. (2014, January 25). Girlus Equinus. Eleven Eleven. https://issuu.com/eleven_eleven/docs/girlus_equinus_by_anne_garcia-romer
Comprehensive List of Plays
Full Length Plays
Staging the Daffy Dame
Lorca in New York
Procenance
Paloma
Mary Domingo
Mary Peabody in Cuba
Earthquake Chica
Juanita's Statue
Pandorado
Santa Concepción
Short Plays
Desert Longing (or Las Aventureras)
Land of Benjamin Franklin
Painting Velazquez
No More Maids
The Voice of Olivia Jiméz
Theatre for Young Audiences
Don Quixote de la Minny
Girlus Equinus
Marta's Magnificent Mundo
Translations
The Grönholm Method by Jordi Galcerán
Cancun by Jordi Galcerán
Conversations with Mama by Jordi Galcerán
Books
The Fornés Frame: Contemporary Latina Playwrights and the Legacy of María Irene Fornés (Published 2016 by Univerisity of Arizona Press).
Photo by David Bazemore from UCSB's Studio Theater production of Staging the Daffy Dame.
Photo by Christopher Goss from the South Coast Reperatory production of Desert Longing.
The book cover of The Fornés Frame published by University of Arizona Press.
Additional Resources
Clip from Youtube of Anne García-Romero discussing Playwrighting and Latinx Theatre.
Visit Anne García-Romero's Website!
Learn more about the Latinx Theatre Commons!
Listen to Anne García-Romero's interview on the New Book Network about her book The Fornés Frame.
Bibliography
Anne García-Romero on Playwriting and Latinx Theatre. (2018, March 8). Notre Dame Colleges
of Arts and Letters [video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzSQcryLsTc
Aragón, F. (2013, February 12) And Now…Words on the Stage. Letras Latinas Blog.
http://letraslatinasblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/and-nowwords-on-stage.html
Boyd, A. (Host). (2020, September 15). Anne garcía-romero: The fornes frame [audio podcast
episode]. New Books Network. https://newbooksnetwork.com/anne-garcia-romero-the-fornes-frame-u-arizona-press-2016
Fonte, L. (2016, May 6). In kitchen theatre’s ‘Paloma’ romance and religion intertwined
García-Romero, A. (2008) Collected plays. NoPassport Press.
García-Romero, A. (2009). Fugue, hip hop, and soap opera: Transcultural connections and
theatrical experimentation in twenty-first century U.S. Latina playwriting. Latin American Theatre Review.
García-Romero, A. (2011, September 14). Adventures in Cyberturgy. HowlRound Theatre
Commons. https://howlround.com/adventures-cyberturgy
García-Romero, A. (2012, August 9). Latinx Theatre Commons: Updating the US narrative.
HowlRound Theatre Commons. https://howlround.com/latinx-theatre-commons-0
García-Romero, A. (2014, January 25). Girlus Equinus. Eleven Eleven.
https://issuu.com/eleven_eleven/docs/girlus_equinus_by_anne_garcia-romer
García-Romero, A. (2016). The fornes fram: Contemporary latin playwrights and the legacy of
maria irene fornes. University of Arizona Press.
García-Romero, A. (2017, December). Paloma. Broadway Play Publishing Inc.
García-Romero, A. (2020). Anne García-Romero: Playwright, Educator, Scholar.
http://www.annegarciaromero.com
Lawton, J. (2013, March 23). CC PlayLab Festival-Panelist Interview: Anne Garcia-Romero.
Jaqueline E. Lawson Blog. https://www.jacquelinelawton.com/blog/xx-playlab-festival-panelist-interview-anne-garcia-romero
Lynch, E. (2011, November 3). Playwright and theatre scholar give voice to lost stories.
University of Notre Dame College of Arts and Letters. https://al.nd.edu/news/latest-news/playwright-and-theatre-scholar-gives-voice-to-lost-stories/
Official Paloma Program. (2015, May 27). Los Angeles Theatre Center.
https://issuu.com/latinotheatercompany/docs/palomaprogramfinal
Romero, E. and García-Romero, A. (2017). Expanding the chair: A conversation on Fornés’s
Pedagogy in Action. Theatre Topics, 27 (1), 83-90. doi:10.1353/tt.2017.0000.
Royce, G. (2000, March 18). Ill-conceived ‘Santa Concepción’ suffers under its own weight. Star
Tribune, Minneapolis, MN 04B.
Saborío, Linda. (2011). Reclaiming religion: Milagros and the sexual objectification of Latinas. In
Embodying difference: Scripting social images of the female body in Latina theatre (pp.
109-139), Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.
Web page complied by Elisabeth Milbank (2021).