Lia Romeo

Lia Romeo

Lia Romeo’s plays include THE FOREST (O’Neill Playwrights’ Conference, Kilroys’ List), CONNECTED (59E59, NYIT Award nominee), GREEN WHALES (Unicorn Theatre, Weissberger Award nominee), REALITY (HotCity Theatre, Steinberg Award nominee), RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME (O’Neill finalist, Renegade Theatre Experiment), THE LUCKY ONES (O’Neill finalist, Dreamcatcher Rep), LOVESICK (59E59), HUNGRY (Unicorn Theatre), BABIES...
Lia Romeo’s plays include THE FOREST (O’Neill Playwrights’ Conference, Kilroys’ List), CONNECTED (59E59, NYIT Award nominee), GREEN WHALES (Unicorn Theatre, Weissberger Award nominee), REALITY (HotCity Theatre, Steinberg Award nominee), RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME (O’Neill finalist, Renegade Theatre Experiment), THE LUCKY ONES (O’Neill finalist, Dreamcatcher Rep), LOVESICK (59E59), HUNGRY (Unicorn Theatre), BABIES (Lark Playwrights Workshop), and others. She was the 2019 winner of City Theatre’s National Short Playwriting Award. She received a 2018 Individual Artist Fellowship in playwriting from the New Jersey State Council for the Arts, and was the National New Play Network Emerging Playwright-in-Residence at Writers Theatre of New Jersey. Her plays are published by Broadway Play Publishing, Playscripts, Dramatists Play Service, and Smith & Kraus. She earned her B.A. from Princeton University and her M.F.A. in playwriting from Rutgers/MGSA, and she teaches in the MA program in creative writing at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Plays

  • The Forest by Lia Romeo
    Recommendations: 9
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: Alzheimer's Disease, dementia + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: Alzheimer's Disease, dementia, divorce, mother and daughter
    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.
  • The Lucky Ones by Lia Romeo
    Recommendations: 5
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: friendship, women + 8 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: friendship, women, cancer, dating, illness, Relationships, aging, older women, caretaking, gender roles
    Vanessa and Janie are best friends… until a devastating diagnosis forces them to consider 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 Janie tries to balance her role as a caretaker with her dreams for her own future, the cracks in the friendship begin to emerge. An exploration of aging, mortality, and the...
    Vanessa and Janie are best friends… until a devastating diagnosis forces them to consider 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 Janie tries to balance her role as a caretaker with her dreams for her own future, the cracks in the friendship begin to emerge. An exploration of aging, mortality, and the value and complexity of female friendship in a patriarchal society.
  • Green Whales by Lia Romeo
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: Turner Syndrome, disease + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, romantic comedy
    Keyword: Turner Syndrome, disease, pedophilia, alcoholism, twisted
    Karen is a 38-year-old philosophy professor who suffers from a rare chromosomal disease that makes her look like a 13-year-old girl. As a result, she has trouble meeting men … until her sister Joanna 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, two sisters try to figure out what love means, and exactly how much they’re willing to settle for.
  • What Happened That Night by Lia Romeo
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: rape culture, teenagers + 3 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: rape culture, teenagers, loss of parent, coming of age, metoo
    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, unbeknownst to Kate, 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 sexual violence, rape culture, and how to listen.
  • Connected by Lia Romeo
    Recommendations: 5
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    Cast: 
    6–20
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    Genre: comedy, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: technology, social media + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, experimental
    Keyword: technology, social media, Facebook, online gaming
    In a world where we are all constantly connected to the internet, and via the internet to one another, why do so many people still feel so alone? In a series of interrelated vignettes - a young girl's most embarrassing moment goes viral, a high school student must choose between real life and role-playing games, two girls spend Saturday night endlessly searching for the “perfect party,” a teacher is...
    In a world where we are all constantly connected to the internet, and via the internet to one another, why do so many people still feel so alone? In a series of interrelated vignettes - a young girl's most embarrassing moment goes viral, a high school student must choose between real life and role-playing games, two girls spend Saturday night endlessly 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 by Lia Romeo
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: reality tv, dating + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, romantic comedy, satire
    Keyword: reality tv, dating, Hollywood, love
    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 will do anything for ratings, and the show runner-up, Krisandra, an aspiring actress who’s desperate to make her mark in Hollywood. Will there be a happy ending, or a huge scandal? In our...
    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 will do anything for ratings, and the show runner-up, Krisandra, an aspiring actress who’s desperate to make her mark in Hollywood. Will there be a happy ending, or a huge scandal? In our modern society, where everything from breasts to feelings are likely to be fake, playwright Lia Romeo explores what “reality” really means.
  • Hungry by Lia Romeo
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 3 more
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    Keyword: coming of age, bulimia + 6 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, dark comedy, fable/folktale, horror
    Keyword: coming of age, bulimia, mythology, minotaur, Greek, classical, feminist, teenage girls
    Amy is trying. Trying to lose weight, trying to be popular, trying to do well in school... but it’s not working out very well. When a minotaur suddenly 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...
    Amy is trying. Trying to lose weight, trying to be popular, trying to do well in school... but it’s not working out very well. When a minotaur suddenly 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 by Lia Romeo
    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: incest, neil Simon + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, farce, romantic comedy
    Keyword: incest, neil Simon, Noel Coward, wedding, Relationships, Boy Meets Girl
    Richard Lamparsky is divorced, unsuccessful, and 40. Stephanie Winwood is beautiful, rich, and 28. But she’s also just been stood up for her own lavish wedding at the Waldorf Astoria… which is where Richard comes in. 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 fairy tale it seems.
  • A Perfect Fit by Lia Romeo
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: gay and lesbian, family + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: gay and lesbian, family, all-female cast
    Nicole, a college sophomore, is exploring her sexuality and has become involved in her first lesbian relationship. Her mother Janet has been married for twenty-five years, but is beginning to wonder whether she’s missing out on something. When Nicole's relationship causes her mother to begin questioning her own sexuality, it leads to serious consequences for the entire family. With an all-female cast, A...
    Nicole, a college sophomore, is exploring her sexuality and has become involved in her first lesbian relationship. Her mother Janet has been married for twenty-five years, but is beginning to wonder whether she’s missing out on something. When Nicole's relationship causes her mother to begin questioning her own sexuality, it leads to serious consequences for the entire family. With an all-female cast, A Perfect Fit explores the different ways that different women navigate their relationships and their choices, and asks difficult questions about how to be happy as a woman in the 21st century.
  • American Dreamers by Lia Romeo
    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: millennials, escorts + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: millennials, escorts, prostitution, Immigrants, midlife crisis, the American Dream
    Becca Barrington has a liberal arts degree, but now that college is over, she's back in the town where she grew up, working a dead-end job at a bookstore. That's when she meets Alicia Velez - sexy, charismatic, and independently wealthy. How did she get that way? By working as an escort. Soon Alicia has convinced Becca that she ought to try it... but when Becca's first client is her high-...
    Becca Barrington has a liberal arts degree, but now that college is over, she's back in the town where she grew up, working a dead-end job at a bookstore. That's when she meets Alicia Velez - sexy, charismatic, and independently wealthy. How did she get that way? By working as an escort. Soon Alicia has convinced Becca that she ought to try it... but when Becca's first client is her high-school teacher, it forces her to wonder whether escorting is really a viable career path. American Dreamers explores the difficulty of finding your way as a twenty-something in twenty-first-century America.
  • The Grand Tour by Lia Romeo
    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: Italy, travel + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: Italy, travel, tourism, adoption, aging, divorce, marriage
    When we travel, what are we really looking for? Eric and Kate are going through a hard time – their marriage is in crisis, and Kate’s father has just died after a long illness. Their adopted daughter Tessa is dealing with her own problems, like being one of the only African-American students in her Midwestern school, and Kate’s mother Anne is sunk in a deep depression after losing her husband. Kate’s father...
    When we travel, what are we really looking for? Eric and Kate are going through a hard time – their marriage is in crisis, and Kate’s father has just died after a long illness. Their adopted daughter Tessa is dealing with her own problems, like being one of the only African-American students in her Midwestern school, and Kate’s mother Anne is sunk in a deep depression after losing her husband. Kate’s father has left them ten thousand dollars, so they decide to spend it on a family trip to Italy, in hopes that a change of scenery will help. But no matter how far they go, they may not be able to escape themselves.
  • Babies by Lia Romeo
    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: parenthood, responsibility + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, horror
    Keyword: parenthood, responsibility, adulthood
    Have you ever wanted to kill a cop, sleep with a prostitute, or leave your baby in the bathroom at the local diner?
  • Ends of the Earth [in development] by Lia Romeo
    Cast: 
    4–5
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: environment, climate change + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, horror
    Keyword: environment, climate change, global warming, anxiety
    Dennis and Julie are a successful, happily married couple who live with their adorable dog, Frankie, and have never wanted children. But then, suddenly, Dennis does. What will the consequences be for their marriage?... and what does it mean to bring a child into a world where the summers are getting hotter, the winters are getting colder, and coyotes have taken up residence in the backyard? Ends of the...
    Dennis and Julie are a successful, happily married couple who live with their adorable dog, Frankie, and have never wanted children. But then, suddenly, Dennis does. What will the consequences be for their marriage?... and what does it mean to bring a child into a world where the summers are getting hotter, the winters are getting colder, and coyotes have taken up residence in the backyard? Ends of the Earth explores climate change and the anxieties associated with modern life, and asks hard questions about what we’re doing to our world.
  • Ghost Story [in development] by Lia Romeo
    Recommendations: 5
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: ghosts, romantic comedy + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: ghosts, romantic comedy, race relations, male-female relations, racism, sexism, ageism
    Lydia’s just looking for a one-night stand, and so she’s brought a cute guy home from the company holiday party. But now things keep getting in the way. Like the fact that they could hardly be more different (she’s forty, he’s twenty-eight; she’s black, he’s white; 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...
    Lydia’s just looking for a one-night stand, and so she’s brought a cute guy home from the company holiday party. But now things keep getting in the way. Like the fact that they could hardly be more different (she’s forty, he’s twenty-eight; she’s black, he’s white; 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.
  • The Agency [in development] by Lia Romeo
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    5–6
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
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    Keyword: acting, capitalism
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
    Keyword: acting, capitalism
    Ani has always dreamed of becoming an actress, so she's saved up and moved to New York City. But 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...
    Ani has always dreamed of becoming an actress, so she's saved up and moved to New York City. But 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? A play for a world where we can buy whatever we want - if we're willing to pay the price.
  • Lifestyle Content (short) by Lia Romeo
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
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    Keyword: lifestyle, beauty + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
    Keyword: lifestyle, beauty, wellness, apocalypse, zoom
    Four beauty editors, isolated in their homes after an apocalyptic event, try to figure out what kind of content is appropriate for troubled times. Works for stage, screen, Zoom, or audio drama.
  • Sitting and Talking: a Play for Zoom by Lia Romeo
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: zoom, coronavirus + 4 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: zoom, coronavirus, love, centers older characters, grief, dating and relationships
    Charles and Enid are in their sixties, and have never tried online dating before, especially not over video chat. But now that they're confined to their homes, there's a first time for everything. A love story... or something like that.