Marble Rooftop, Emma Has Church

by Eliana Theologides Rodriguez

In MARBLE ROOFTOP, EMMA HAS CHURCH, seven high school girls convene for their annual dance team bonding sleepover. Throughout the night, the girls navigate the power imbalances between them, tell stories from their lives, and compete to be the most “experienced” in the room. But what happens when one girl goes too far to prove herself to the rest? Traversing the lines between consent, agency, peer pressure and...

In MARBLE ROOFTOP, EMMA HAS CHURCH, seven high school girls convene for their annual dance team bonding sleepover. Throughout the night, the girls navigate the power imbalances between them, tell stories from their lives, and compete to be the most “experienced” in the room. But what happens when one girl goes too far to prove herself to the rest? Traversing the lines between consent, agency, peer pressure and systemic pressure, Marble Rooftop explores the implicit conditions of femininity as we know it.

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Marble Rooftop, Emma Has Church

Recommended by

  • Heather Helinsky: Marble Rooftop, Emma Has Church by Eliana Theologides Rodriguez
    “

    This is written by a confident voice asking generational questions about the mixed messages received about sex, power, peer pressure, and consent. The characters are vivid and brimming with complicated emotions and agendas as one night at a sleepover unfolds. Is the joy of dance that bonds them all empowering or is it just another competitive activity pressuring them to conform to societal expectations for femininity?

    This is written by a confident voice asking generational questions about the mixed messages received about sex, power, peer pressure, and consent. The characters are vivid and brimming with complicated emotions and agendas as one night at a sleepover unfolds. Is the joy of dance that bonds them all empowering or is it just another competitive activity pressuring them to conform to societal expectations for femininity?

    ”
  • Shaun Leisher: Marble Rooftop, Emma Has Church by Eliana Theologides Rodriguez
    “

    A great play for colleges!! From the start you are sucked in to the world of these complicated girls.

    A great play for colleges!! From the start you are sucked in to the world of these complicated girls.

    ”
  • Jordan Elizabeth Henry: Marble Rooftop, Emma Has Church by Eliana Theologides Rodriguez
    “

    I'm obsessively in love with this play. Eliana has gifted us with 7 young women who dazzle and shine with unique voices and desperate needs. The play has moments of true joy and deep, intense dread; the threat of male infiltration into this party creates stakes that rise ever higher from beginning to end. You'll fall in love with these characters, long for what's best for them, feel their joy, and feel wrecked by their commitment to each other. These girls are lions and I love them. Read this play.

    I'm obsessively in love with this play. Eliana has gifted us with 7 young women who dazzle and shine with unique voices and desperate needs. The play has moments of true joy and deep, intense dread; the threat of male infiltration into this party creates stakes that rise ever higher from beginning to end. You'll fall in love with these characters, long for what's best for them, feel their joy, and feel wrecked by their commitment to each other. These girls are lions and I love them. Read this play.

    ”

Awards

  • O'Neill National Playwrights Conference
    Finalist
    2024
  • John Golden Award for Excellence in Playwriting
    NYU Tisch School of the Arts
    Winner
    2020