Emilio Rodriguez began his theatre career at the age of 2 performing one-kid adaptations of The Wizard of Oz in his parents' living room using a broom, a funnel, and a pair of his mama's high heels. He has since then moved on to have productions of his play Swimming While Drowning at Milagro Theatre (Portland, Oregon), Teatro del Pueblo (St. Paul, Minnesota), Theatre Nova (Ann Arbor, Michigan) and Stages Theatre (Houston, Texas). His other plays have been featured in readings and festivals across the country including the Great Plains Theatre Conference, The Landing Theatre Redemption Series, the 50 Playwrights Project and the Austin New Latino Play Festival. Emilio was recently selected for the 2018 Kresge Artist in Detroit fellowship as well as The Robert Chesley/Victor Bumbalo LGBT Playwrights Award. He was selected for residencies with the Mitten Lab, Djerassi Artist Residency Program, and Teatro Prometeo where he wrote a new play about gentrification. When he's not writing plays, he is the artistic director of Black and Brown Theatre, a Detroit area theatre company focused on creating more opportunities for theatre artists of color (www.BlackandBrownTheatre.org).
*Photo by Brandy Joe Plambeck.
