LIA ROMEO | WRITER
PLAYS & PUBLICATIONS
STILL (1M, 1F)
Drama
NY premiere, Colt Coeur, April 2024 (tickets here)
World premiere, Dorset Theatre Festival (Dorset, VT)
Readings at LAByrinth Theatre, the Juilliard School, Tiny Barn Theatre. Available for world premiere.
Thirty years ago, Helen and Mark broke up. Now he's running for Congress, and she has a secret that could derail his bid. A play about reproductive rights, political divisions, and the ways people change... or don't.
THE AGENCY (3F, 2M)
Dark Comedy
Readings at La Jolla Playhouse, the Juilliard School, Durango PlayFest. Kilroys List 2020. Available for world premiere. (Also in development as a TV pilot.)
Ani has always dreamed of becoming an actress, and she’s finally managed to move to New York City. But now she’s not getting cast, and she’s almost out of money. So she takes a job at a “rental agency,” where lonely clients can hire actors to serve as surrogate friends or loved ones. It seems like the perfect gig – it pays well, she’s good at the work, and she’s helping people feel better. But what will it mean for her real-life relationships? The Agency examines a world where we can buy whatever we want – if we’re willing to pay the price.
YOGA WITH JILLIAN (1F)
Dark Comedy
World premiere, Project Y Theatre, Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Workshop, City Theatre's Momentum Festival of New Plays (Pittsburgh, PA)
In this interactive one-woman show, the audience does yoga while yoga teacher Jillian tries to lead them through an amazing physical and spiritual journey. But the past few years have been tough, right? As Jillian tries to teach again in our changed world, the shiny, happy yoga teacher struggles to keep the class - and herself - from completely imploding.
THE FOREST (2M, 2F)
Dark Comedy/Drama
O’Neill National Playwrights Conference 2018, Kilroys List 2019, production upcoming at NJ Rep (Long Branch, NJ)
Juliet is losing her marriage. Her mother Pam is losing her memory. And there’s a mysterious forest growing in and around their living room. Is it any wonder Juliet starts sleeping with one of her high school students? A play about weird love and what to do when there aren’t any right answers.
SITTING AND TALKING (1M, 1F)
Drama
Productions at Mile Square Theatre, Laguna Playhouse, Seven Devils New Play Foundry, NJ Rep, Valdez Theatre Conference, Durango PlayFest, Cyrano's Theatre Company, Dreamcatcher Rep, and Mildred's Umbrella
Charles and Enid are in their sixties, and have never tried online dating... especially not over video chat. But in the midst of a global pandemic, there's a first time for everything. A love story for strange times.
THE LUCKY ONES (1M, 2F)
Dark Comedy
O’Neill finalist, world premiere at Dreamcatcher Rep (Summit, NJ)
Vanessa and Janie are best friends, but a devastating diagnosis is making them reconsider what that friendship means and how much it matters. Vanessa is sick, and she’s getting sicker, while Janie is embarking on a new love affair. As their paths go different directions, the cracks in the friendship begin to emerge. A play about the value and importance of female friendship in a patriarchal society.
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GHOST STORY (1M, 1F)
Dark Comedy
Reading, Queens Theatre's New American Voices Reading Series. O'Neill semi-finalist.
Lydia's just looking for a one-night stand, so she's met a cute guy and brought him home to her apartment. But now things keep getting in the way. Like the fact that they could hardly be more different (she's Black, he's white; she's forty and he's twenty-eight; she's a New Yorker and he's from the midwest). And the fact that he's still not over his ex. And the fact that her apartment might very well be haunted. A play about ghosts - both literal and otherwise - and the ways we try to move forward.
GREEN WHALES (2M, 2F)
Dark Comedy
PlayPenn finalist, Weissberger Award nominee, productions at Unicorn Theatre (Kansas City, MO), Forward Flux (Seattle, WA), MCS Theatre (New York, NY), and Renegade Theatre Experiment (San Jose, CA). Published by Broadway Play Publishing.
Karen is a 38-year-old philosophy professor who suffers from a rare chromosomal condition that makes her look like a 13-year-old girl. As a result, she has trouble meeting men… until her sister decides to set her up on a date with the local pedophile. The real problem is, she likes him. In this bizarrely comic love story, both sisters try to figure out what love means, and just how much they’re willing to settle for.
WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT (3M, 2F)
Drama
Winner, T. Schreiber Studio New Works Festival, World Premiere at Project Y Theatre Company (New York, NY)
Jenna and Kate are best friends… until one drunken night, Kate ends up in the bathroom with Derek, the guy Jenna has a crush on. Afterwards, Kate says she was raped, while Derek claims it was consensual. Meanwhile, Jenna and Derek have been getting closer… but in a small town, they can’t keep their relationship a secret for long. A #metoo play about sex, rape culture, and how to listen.
CONNECTED (Flexible Casting, Anywhere Between 6 and 20 Actors)
Comedy/Drama
Productions at 59E59 (New York, NY) and HotCity Theatre (St. Louis, MO), nominee for NYIT Award for Outstanding Full-length Script. Published by Playscripts.
In a world where we are all connected to the internet, and via the internet to one another, why do so many people still feel so alone? In a series of interlocking vignettes… a young girl’s most embarrassing moment goes viral, two teens spend Saturday night searching for the perfect party, a teacher is accidentally seduced by her student on an internet dating site… CONNECTED examines love and friendship in the age of social media.
REALITY (2M, 2F)
Dark Comedy
Winner, HotCity Theatre New Play Festival, world premiere at HotCity Theatre (St. Louis, MO). Published by Playscripts.
Annie and Matt met on “Looking for Love,” a popular reality dating show. But now that the cameras have stopped rolling, their fairy tale is looking a lot less perfect than it seemed. Add into the mix producer Josh, who’s desperate for ratings, and the runner-up, Krisandra, an aspiring actress trying to make her mark in Hollywood. Will there be a happy ending, or a huge scandal? In a world where the distinctions between real and fake have become increasingly blurry, the play explores what “reality” really means.
HUNGRY (1M, 3F)
Dark Comedy
Productions at Unicorn Theatre (Kansas City, MO), Stillwater Theatre (Raleigh, NC), and The Tank (New York, NY)
Fifteen-year-old Amy is trying. Trying to lose weight, trying to be popular, trying to make the dance team. But it’s not working out very well. When a minotaur shows up in her backyard, Amy finds the unconditional acceptance she’s been looking for… but when the “mean kids” start turning up dead, she realizes that being best friends with a man-eating mythological beast might have its drawbacks. Will the minotaur be her salvation, or her downfall?
RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME (2M, 3F)
Comedy
O’Neill finalist, productions at Renegade Theatre Experiment (San Jose, CA), Stillwater Theatre (Raleigh, NC), and Xpressions Performing Arts Network (Baltimore, MD). Published by Broadway Play Publishing.
Richard Lamparsky is divorced, unsuccessful, and 40. Stephanie Winwood is beautiful, rich, and 28. But she’s just been stood up for her lavish wedding to a man who none of her friends and family have ever met, and Richard happens to be drinking downstairs in the hotel lobby. Stephanie needs a stand-in groom, and Richard needs a whole new life. But he’s about to find out that it’s not quite the fairytale it seems.
AMERICAN DREAMERS (2M, 3F)
Comedy
Productions at Jersey City Theatre Center (Jersey City, NJ) and
West of 10th (New York, NY)
It’s November of 2016, and Becca has just graduated with a liberal arts degree. But she’s found herself back in the town she grew up in, working a dead-end job at a bookstore. That’s when she meets Alicia… sexy, charismatic, and independently wealthy. How did she get that way? By working as an escort. Becca decides she ought to try it… but then her first client is her high-school teacher. So her life is pretty much a disaster. But at least we’re about to elect the first female president… right?
"THE PRESENTATION" (3M,1F)
Ten Minute Comedy - included in Outstanding Short Plays, Volume 4)
Winner of City Theatre's National Short Playwriting Award. Commissioned and first produced by Dreamcatcher Rep (Summit, NJ); also produced by City Theatre (Miami, FL)
Samantha Friedman, a human resources professional, has just finished her presentation on sexual harassment in the workplace. Unfortunately, the three Vikings she's been addressing seem to have missed the point of her talk... especially as it concerns not raping.
