Photo by Terrell Halsey
Carl(os) Roa [they/elle] is an interdisciplinary artist, transmedia storyteller, juicy Colombian bear, and effusive Miami transplant. A proud alumni of the Headlong Performance Institute and Drexel University, (os)’ work explores the marginalized within the marginalized, and alternative communities living alternative lives. Their art takes cues from devised theatre, community organizing, dystopian novels, queer digital realms, anime, third culture kids, the kink scene, transformative justice, and interactive media. All of these influences serve to inform their work with a visual artist’s sensibility.
They’ve worked with numerous artistic organizations in Philadelphia, including The Wilma Theater, Taller Puertorriqueño, First Person Arts, Philadelphia Artists’ Collective, Philadelphia Young Playwrights, and Swim Pony Performing Arts. They were previously the Program Manager for the Painted Bride, and a contributing writer for Artblog, HowlRound Theatre Commons, and American Theatre Magazine. In their curatorial practice, they’ve produced the Painted Bride’s Off the Wall interactive art exhibition as well as an article series for HowlRound. They are also a graduate of the Foundry: a playwriting group affiliated with PlayPenn that is guided by the mentorship of R. Eric Thomas and LM Feldman.
Previous projects include From Beneath, It Lurks, a devised play they wrote exploring Lovecraftian horror; Andean Mountains (Montañas Andinas), which was the recipient of FringeArts’ inaugural Camp Fringe residency program and received its world premiere at Taller Puertorriqueño; and Spanish for Estranged Latin Kids, made in collaboration with Cat Ramirez and Mariadela Belle Alvarez. They were a finalist for the 2018 Latinx Theatre Commons’ (LTC) Carnaval of New Latinx Work, and a participant in the 2023 LTC Director-Designer Colaboratorio as a Scholar/Documentarian. They’ve collaborated with director Blanka Zizka and playwright Christopher Chen on the world premiere production of Passage at the Wilma Theater.
In 2022, they were a finalist for the Terrance McNally Award and received an Illuminate the Arts grant from the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy. Their play Pase Lo Que Pase (I Will Always Find You) has been placed in The Kilroys’ 2023 List. Currently, they are pursuing their MFA at UCLA with the support of a Graduate Opportunity Fellowship and a scholarship from the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts.