About the 2022-2023 Emerging Playwrights Fellowship
From Associate Producer Raulie Martinez:
“The idea for the Emerging Playwrights Fellowship came from a realization that there was a strong lack of theatrical representation for communities who have been historically excluded, both on the page and on the stage. This is even more prevalent in theatre for all ages. So in 2021, instead of waiting and hoping that these artists and their plays would appear, we at the Scoundrel & Scamp decided to work towards aiding and elevating new and emerging playwrights ourselves, with the goal to help foster the next generation of theatre goers and theatre artists.
We started locally, looking to support theatre artists in our southwest area, pairing them with a mentor, and offering support and space for their voices and artistry to be shared. This was an insightful and enriching experience for both the artists and our community. We made sure to put the artists and their work. Offering any assistance we can to allow our Fellows the opportunity to express themselves unabashed, and unrestricted by the constructs that have historically excluded their voices.
This year we have decided to expand the fellowship nationally! It was very exciting to see artists' submissions from coast to coast. After careful reviewing and interviews, we are extremely pleased to have Cris Blak as this season's Emerging Playwright Fellow. Learning of his passion for theatre and storytelling, and how he kept this drive to continue writing through the pandemic was heartwarming and inspiring. His determination, creativity, and humility made his voice one we are excited to lift up and cannot wait to see where this program takes him.”
Meet the Fellow, Cris Eli Blak
Cris Eli Blak is an emerging Black playwright whose work has garnered him recognition from The Negro Ensemble Company, Kairos Italy Theater, Austin Film Festival, Barrington Stage Company, TEDxBroadway, and Ignition Arts. His work has been performed Off-Broadway and around the country; on university stages; as well as in London, Australia, Ireland, and Canada. His work has been published by the Black Theatre Review, Smith & Kraus Inc., New World Theatre Company, Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble and YouthPlays (upcoming), among others. He was a resident playwright with Fosters Theatrical Artists Residency, Paterson Performing Arts Development Council, and La Lengua Teatro en Español/AlterTheater Ensemble; the recipient of the Michael Bradford Residency from Quick Silver Theatre Company; and was in the inaugural class of fellows for the Black Theatre Coalition.
“The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre is a company that clearly specializes in telling stories for an audience that transcends any one culture, color, or creed. They have a desire to bring in an audience that looks like the world we live in, a theatrical environment that is inclusive and welcoming, creating work that is as insightful as it is entertaining. To be able to put my stamp on a small part of that mission and that history is an honor so huge that there is no collection of letters that could form an adequate work to describe it. As a writer I try to ask questions and capture that spark of curiosity that lives inside us all in order to tell stories that make people feel seen and heard and represented and loved and validated. With this fellowship I have been given an opportunity to continue this and climb another step in my career as a playwright - - a career that I am still only at the beginning of. I am so hype to create and collaborate and develop work with beautiful creative minds that will truly show that the theatre is a place of community, where all kinds of people, of all ages and backgrounds, can come and experience something that speaks to them. I am very grateful. I am very excited. I am very ready to get started.” - Cris Eli Blak
Meet the Mentor, Elaine Romero
An award-winning U.S. playwright, Elaine Romero’s plays have widely published andanthologized in over 50 publications. Her play, Secret Things, received a critically acclaimed production in November/December 2021 at 1st Stage where the play was name by DC Metro Theater Arts as one of the best Outstanding Professional Theatre Productions of 2021. Her commissioned play, The Grotowski Method, premiered last year at Wooster College, sparking conversations about race in a rural Midwestern town. The virtual month-long, RomeroFest, featured her work at theatres nationally and internationally in March 2021 with over seventeen separate projects. Initiated by the Arizona Theatre Company, some of the collaborating companies included Artists Repertory Theatre, Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre, InterAct Theatre Company, Seven Devils New Play Foundry, Winding Road Theatre Ensemble, Teatro Travieso/Troublemaker Theater, Justice Theatre Project, and Foro Shakespeare in Mexico City.
Romero’s work has been published by Dramatists Play Service, Samuel French, Playscripts, Simon and Schuster, Vintage Books among others. She wrote the film, A Sentiment (Burning Coal Theatre/The Justice Theatre Project). Chatham Life and Style named the piece in the top five of the 19th Amendment Project. Two Viral Monologues were recently produced, Oyster (24-Hour Plays/ATC; DPS) and Shackle (24-Hour Plays). Some upcoming publications include Swastika, A Sentiment, Permission, and a new play about Maria Irene Fornés and Harriet Sohmers for Cambridge University Press
"The Emerging Playwrights Fellowship is about as pure as the discovery of a playwright gets. The fellowship is truly about a connection to the work, and the fellowship period really focuses on investing in the playwright's next work. It doesn't come with expectations about what a playwright must do, or who a playwright must be. The team meets the playwright where they are at and they begin a journey of the next play. All invite the play to unfold. No agenda. That's about as pure as new play development gets and I am proud to be part of it." - Elaine Romero