Centrifugal Force

Set in bait & tackle shop off a desolate road in Long Island, CENTRIFUGAL FORCE
is the story of the Grossman’s family struggle with work, obsolescence and identity.

After Herman Grossman’s business folds, he hangs around the bait and tackle shop where his daughter Marissa works, spinning stories of his war years to anyone who will listen. Marissa appears to have no ambition beyond this little corner of the world. When Herman is offered what seems to be a lucrative but dangerous job, Marissa calls her brother Jerry, an ambitious journalist, back home to help. Jerry resents having to put his career on pause, even briefly, to return home to deal with a father he knows to be unreasonable. And while he cares about his sister, Jerry mistrusts Marissa’s grasp of reality. When Jerry returns the rifts between Jerry and his homebody sister take on new dimensions while they await the return of Herman.

Cooler

COOLER is an abstract play about a group of people who live in a cooler under a mysterious but palpable oppressive force. Their language has been warped and the rules of their society have been confused, and they struggle to reconcile their desires and impulses with the chilling environment they find themselves in. The play operates in an almost dream-like state as the characters experiment with language, will, and the nature of oppression — both external and self-imposed.

Productions:
The Chocolate Factory: April, 2010
Defunktheatre: May, 2009.

At Said

AT SAID is about the reverberations of genocide. When Sybil decides to type her memories of a childhood lived under a repressive regime, the act itself has a profound effect on Darra, her shut-in daughter, as she resists this intrusion of words.
AT SAID is set in a housing project in an American City.

Production:
PS 122. May, 2006 (13P production #4)

Dead Reckoning

DEAD RECKONING is about a working-class Jewish family in Brooklyn.

Production:
Cherry Lane Alternative: February, 2001.

Golem

GOLEM is a very loose adaptation of the Jewish folk myth. When Gil, a pathological liar, is transformed into a modern day Golem by a prostitute (don’t ask), all heck breaks loose. When love comes within his grasp, Gil must find a way to break the curse.

Production:
Cherry Lane Alternative: May, 2000. (Cherry Lane Mentor Project).

Aeneas

Modern adaptation of THE AENEID, developed in collaboration with director Hayley Finn, sound designer Robert Kaplowitz and the Bats (the Flea Theater’s acting company).

Workshop Production:
The Flea Theater, December, 2002.

The Lake

Three people living at a lake. An absurdist comment on contemporary life, if there is such a thing. Maybe not. Maybe it’s just about three people living by a lake. Oh and someone shows up at the end.

Production:
The Flea Theater. April, 2004

The White Room

One act play about a woman who visits an archive at an unnamed concentration camp which may hold the names of her family members who perished there.
Finalist for ATL’s 2009 Heideman Award.

Published on Eleven Eleven Journal, January, 2010.

I Love Neil Labute

Short play. A parody featuring three Neil Labute’s and Joseph Smith.

Published in NY Theater Review. 2009
Produced at STICKY and Oberlin College.

So Unnatural A Level

Short play. Produced at Actor’s Theater of Louisville.

Winner if the 2015 Heideman Award