Rich Orloff

Designed to recreate the feel of an evening of old-time radio programs, RADIO RIDICULOUS provides an opportunity for four or more versatile comedic actors to show off in over 60 roles. RADIO RIDICULOUS parodies three popular genres from the Golden Age of Radio: suspense, vaudeville comedy, and classy literary adaptations.

The time is the late 1930’s. The place is a radio studio.
RADIO RIDICULOUS brings you three great shows:

Suspensorama presents
SORRY, YOU'VE GOT MY WRONG NUMBER
&
Flemner’s Fine Foods presents
THE WACKO BROTHERS SHOW
&
The Condensed Classics Hour presents
A TALE OF TWO MISERABLES

The show is suitable for all ages and can be performed with live sound effects - everything from a creaky door and galloping horses to a sword fight and a guillotine.

An irreverent retelling of the Biblical story of Esther, ESTHER IN THE SPOTLIGHT is written in a style described as “Mel Brooks meets The Bible”. Beyond the plentiful gags, however, is the story of a woman who questions the culture of her time, wonders about her destiny, and yearns for meaning. The 80-minute musical has five major characters, with a chorus of four (or more) playing a variety of additional roles. The show can be performed with no set and simple costumes.

Based on the iconic 1928 Walt Disney cartoon, STEAMBOAT WILLIE: THE MUSICAL depicts the first meeting between two mice (named Mickey and Minnie) who meet on a steamboat and who bond through an adventure. The short musical (about 15 minutes) for audiences of all ages features five songs and can be performed by a cast of five or more.

Note: This play is not available for performance until January 1, 2024.

JENNIFER’S BIRTH asks,“If you could observe your parents at the time of your birth, what would you discover?” 

JENNIFER’S BIRTH is about a 57-year-old Jewish woman from 2010 who goes back to the time of her birth. and who witnesses events - some comedic, some deeply disturbing - that shake up her views about her parents and about herself.  She observes her parents as young marrieds, both of whom are struggling with how to be an adult as defined by 1953 values.  The conflict between ideals and reality pushes all of the characters out of their comfort zones and into problems they're not the least prepared to face.  (4 w., 2 m., 1 set)

With heart and humor, JENNIFER’S BIRTH is a play about the near-impossibility of seeing your parents as people... and the challenge of forgiveness. 

My newest play, MEN OVERBOARD, asks "What makes a man?" and "What responsibilities do we have to protect the souls of those we love?" A Bar Mitzvah in New York City brings together three Jewish brothers who have taken very different life paths (becoming a politician, a therapist, and a Buddhist monk), plus their fading but forceful father, the politician's 13-year-old son (who doubts he's ready to become a man), and the boy's Bar Mitzvah tutor (a woman who loves the boy and possibly one of his uncles). As the boy is torn between obedience and defiance of his father, tensions grow, affecting everyone in the family, until anger becomes abuse and it becomes clear that the family's status quo is no longer an option.

BIG BOYS is a two-character comedy about the relationship between a self-satisfied, grandiose, amoral and very successful boss, and his insecure, moral, eager-to-please and very unhappy assistant. Influenced by the surreal energy and comic rhythms of vaudeville comedy, BIG BOYS is an over-the-top comic fable about what men value and what they’ll do to get it.

“Rip-roaringly funny” New York Times

“A truly funny show. A couple of hours spent in the giddily absurd world of BIG BOYS can wreak havoc with one’s gyroscope of logic and priorities.”
Asbury Park Press

"one of the best comedies of this past season"
Express Milwaukee

SOMEONE’S KNOCKING focuses on a married woman afraid of “out there”, whose marriage and life change radically when Opportunity knocks on her door – literally. (Imagine A DOLL’S HOUSE as rewritten by Ionesco and Monty Python.) The play is designed for a cast of six or more, some playing multiple roles, and is usually produced on a very simple set. “Absurdly clever. Orloff fills this comedic gem with line after line of savory humor. Orloff’s terrific dialogue is buttressed by conceptual daring.” – Back Stage West (Critic's Pick)

“Weirdly uproarious. Rich Orloff provides ample broad humor and occasional glimpses of brilliance. Orloff can produce strings of gleefully zany non sequiturs and inventive characters.”
– Vermont Times.

“Great fun. How can it miss with its overload of funny one-liners, cleverly presented views of contemporary life and general silliness?”
– Arizona Republic.

“Satisfyingly zany. Playwright Rich Orloff has a bizarre way of making sorrow funny and abstractions concrete. SOMEONE’S KNOCKING is wild.”
– Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Variety raved about the play, writing ""Orloff’s writing is sharp. He has an easy way with humor, and it’s more knowing than most of what passes for comedy in the theater today.”

An award-winning, star-spangled comedy about the intersection of politics, art and love. Set in Washington DC in 1990, VERONICA'S POSITION places a twice-married, twice-divorced Hollywood couple (inspired by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton) in the middle of a political controversy between the actress' politician fiancé and a controversial visual artist (inspired by Senator John Warner and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe). When Veronica's gay assistant falls in love with the photographer, conflicts rise until the fiercely apolitical Veronica is forced to take a position on the one subject she cares about - love.

Other critics have written:

"Rollicking fun. Reminiscent of a combination of Noel Coward, Oscar Wilde and Moss Hart, VERONICA'S POSITION tackles love, artistic freedom, plus social politics - all with sharply fashioned wit."
Easy Reader (Los Angeles)

"A Noel Coward-esque comedy. Orloff gives listeners a lot to think about. It works."
Los Angeles Times

"Orloff manages this resonant material, which knowingly evokes ghosts of the Taylor-Burton romance and the Robert Mapplethorpe controversy, with surprising nimbleness."
Indianapolis Star

"A smart, moving and very funny comedy with dialogue that crackles like a Coward script. A play filled with heart as well as hilarity, giving an audience plenty of food for thought."
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

"The laughter runs rampant. Incredibly entertaining and provocative."
Milwaukee Postscript

"A well-constructed romantic comedy. Polished banter with an edge."
Tampa Tribune

"Rich Orloff's witty play. Orloff's dialogue crackles throughout the play."
Portland Tribune (Oregon)

"There is more to this piece than one commonly encounters in comedies. An aggressively biting tale with richly sharp dialogue."
Der Neue Merkur (Vienna)

"Highly enjoyable, with beguiling punchlines. Recommended without reservation."
Xtra (Vienna)

A four-character comedy with bite, ENGAGEMENT RULES follows the intertwined lives of two couples who advise and support each other on challenges of love, sex and the soul. The younger couple (early 30's) is recently engaged, and the older (in their 70's) has been married over fifty years.

Both couples face problems caused by sex (an unplanned pregnancy for the younger couple, and conflicting yearnings for the older couple) complicated by spiritual differences, forcing everyone to face seemingly irreconcilable differences and answer questions than none of them can answer easily. ENGAGEMENT RULES is a play that strives to avoid old arguments and pat answers as it explores with compassion and humor the challenge of love and commitment.

"Orloff's play is rich in content, deep in character. The themes may be familiar, but the approach is sharp, original and terribly funny. The opening audience was so appreciative that the sustained laughter threatened to drown out the next lines."
Encore Michigan

"The show is indeed amusing, with emotionally charged dialogue that mixes laughs with life lessons."
Detroit Free Press

"a very enjoyable evening of theater"
Detroit New Monitor

"a ton of laughs, dealing with authentic issues"
Detroit News

"For all the laughter, viewers should arm themselves for an emotional and sincerely thought-provoking challenge."
Detroit Rogue Critic

LOVE HAPPENS follows a year in the lives of two couples, one beginning and one approaching their fiftieth anniversary. As the younger couple progresses from meeting and dating to the challenges of living together and commitment, they get advice and testimony from the older couple, who develop problems of their own when they’re influenced by the younger pair.

"Rich Orloff's crowd-pleaser"
The New York Times

"A fresh, often delightful and surprisingly thoughtful comedy about the difficulties of romance."
The Charlotte Observer

"The dialogue is witty and wonderful, and the laughs start early and never end."
New Jersey Suburbanite

"A simple love story manages to convey the collected experiences of a whole generation, indeed multiple generations. And it does so in a way that is fresh, funny and compelling. Rich Orloff has filled this story with brilliant one-liners that depict contemporary attitudes with wit and wisdom."
The Asheville Citizen-Times

"Sterling writing by Orloff. Some wise lessons on love and relationships, and a load of laughs."
Muncie Star Press, Indiana

"An enjoyable, occasionally enlightening ride, with plenty of laugh lines"
Wilmington Star-News

"Effective writing; the characters come with wisdom and depth through hefty doses of realism and comedy."
Encore Wilmington

A nice family who live in a nice home in a nice suburb during the nice 1950's have their lives turned upside down by three escaped convicts with bad table manners.

"Rich Orloff's DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY boasts perceptive writing. DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY is a real crowd-pleaser that should find future life in regional theater."
Back Stage

"An exaggerated comedy that gave us a good evening of belly laughs. There are so many funny lines you miss some because of your laughing."
Key West (the newspaper)

"This riotously funny show is simply too good to miss."
Quad-City Times (Iowa0

"DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY will have you laughing from beginning to end."
The Times Herald-Record (Catskills, New York)

"The hysterically funny play DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY is a real hoot."
Island Sun (Fort Myers, FL)

Set in the 1920's, TROPICAL HEAT is a torrid tale of temptation in the tropics, When a proselytizing preacher meets a passionate party girl, he doesn't have a prayer. Other characters include a curmudgeonly hotel owner named Pops, a bum named Doc, and a tormented young painter who hasn’t painted anything yet because he’s still learning how to be tormented. An over-the-top farce inspired by the Joan Crawford film RAIN and the Somerset Maugham story MISS SADIE THOMPSON, the play is written in the deliciously camp style of Charles Ludlam and Charles Busch. In all productions so far, the female lead has been played by a man, and in production, one of the men was played by a woman. In short, gender-bending casting is encouraged. Buffalo News called it "hilarious", and Buffalo Artvoice wrote, "You will have a great time." (80 min., one set, cast of five: 4 m., 1 w. - or a fabulous equivalent)

VIETNAM 101: THE WAR ON CAMPUS is a documentary theater piece mixing monologues and “story theater” ensemble scenes. Based on letters from students at Oberlin College in Ohio and interviews conducted by the author, the play spans an era from early, polite demonstrations in 1964 to the campus shutdown after Kent State in 1970. Along the way, stories illustrate the personal lives of all students on campus, including the radical, the cautious, the conservative, and the chronically undecided. When produced in Philadelphia, Philadelphia City Paper wrote, “VIETNAM 101: THE WAR ON CAMPUS employs recollections from Oberlin College students from 1964 to 1972 to examine – with sensitivity, honesty, humility and wit – student protest’s glory years. It’s not an ancient history class for younger audiences, but rather an entertaining primer in neglected subjects like civics and ethics.” The Daily Sentinel in Colorado wrote, "A thoughtful, impassioned look at one of the most divisive eras in American history. [The play] gives the audience a 'you are there' feel for the times."

BLESSINGS FROM THE PANDEMIC is "a theater piece in five movements" that chronicles the events of the past year - the big, the small, the challenging, the humorous, and even the inspiring. The piece can be performed by a cast that can vary in size and age. The full piece includes 60 poems, but theaters may choose the poems and length that work best for them.

“Our audience thought it was enchanting and wanted more!”
Christopher Bremer
Executive Director
JET Theatre, Michigan

“BLESSINGS FROM THE PANDEMIC is a candle in the darkness, shining its light on the blessings we enjoy in the little things of everyday life.”
Hal Schneider
Artistic Director
Central Massachusetts Jewish Theatre Company

“Rich Orloff's rich, heartfelt, and sometimes humorous reflections give voice to the full range of emotions and thoughts we are all experiencing, and like all good theatre, it touches our minds, hearts, and souls.”
Audrey Heller
Artistic Director
Jewish Theatre of Bloomington

“Rich Orloff’s refreshing, life-affirming BLESSINGS is a welcome antidote for what ails us.”
Faye Sholiton
Artistic Director
Interplay Jewish Theatre, Cleveland

"A delightful, thought-provoking and inspirational show that gave our audience great comfort."
Fran Pesch
Artistic Director
Young at Heart Players, Dayton

“BLESSINGS FROM THE PANDEMIC relates directly to what my students have felt over the past year, and it gives voice to the positives that can be derived from this moment in history.”
Eric R. Christiansen, Director
Greendale High School Theatre
Greendale, WI

BLESSINGS FROM THE PANDEMIC has been presented over Zoom by theaters around the country and just had its high school premiere. Individual poems have been presented at theaters, churches, synagogues, libraries, and other groups.

A collection of 15 of my most popular short plays (mostly comedies), adapted for Zoom. The collections includes 8 two-person comedies, 5 comedies for casts of four or five, and 2 monologues (one adapted from a classic monologue by Eugene O'Neill).

These plays have had well-received productions in theaters and schools in the USA and overseas.  They've won the Audience Favorite awards in four new play festivals (Palm Springs National Short Play Festival, Driftwood Players, Storefront Theatre, and State University of New York at Brockport), as well as the Grand Prize at the Stage Door New Play Festival,  

Note: The 15 plays include much more material than can fit into a single evening, but theaters interested in producing UNMUTE ME! are welcome to choose the plays and the order that best suits them and their audience.

A collection of nine short comedies, all set outdoors. The plays include:
PLAYWRITING 101: THE ROOFTOP LESSON
(my most popular ten-minute play, with over 400 productions)
THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE PRIMORDIAL OOZE
("a well-written joy" - Chicago Reader)
EVE AND ADAM; THE UNTOLD STORY
(the true story of the Garden of Eden, in which Eve is created first)
MATTERHORN
(a marriage dissolves as a couple waits in line at Disneyland)
PRAGUE SUMMER
(selected to be in The Best American Short Plays 2000)
THE ULTIMATE BATTLE FOR TOTAL CONTROL OF THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE
("playful but poignant" - Milwaukee Sentinel-Journal)
OFF THE MAP
(selected to be in The Best Ten-Minute Plays 2010)
THE TOTAL SPIRITUAL
(the entrance exam to the hereafter has a few trick questions)
and THE POND NOT TAKEN
(a sequel to "The Frog Prince", designed for a variable cast size)

A collection of nine short plays with all-female casts, including contemporary adaptations of classic short plays by Eugene O'Neill, August Strindberg, Anton Chekhov, Ferenc Molnar, A.A. Milne and Alice Gerstenberg.

The plays include:

THAT BITCH, a contemporary adaptation of the 1888 comedy “The Bear” by Anton Chekhov – A woman in mourning over her late husband is confronted by her bear of a neighbor. Sparks fly, revealing a side to the mourner she never realized before. (3 w., 30’s-40’s, about 12 min.)

THE STRONGEST, a contemporary adaptation of the 1889 drama "The Stronger" by August Strindberg – A self-satisfied woman meets for a drink to humiliate a younger woman who had an affair with her husband. But inaction may speak louder than words. (3 w., mid-20’s – 50’s, about 10 min.)

ME AND MY SHADOW, a contemporary adaptation of the 1915 comedy “Overtones” by Alice Gerstenberg – When two estranged women get together after many years, their inner selves keep reminding them of the gap between who they are and who they appear to be. (6 w., 20’s – 40’s, about 18 min.)

AFTER BREAKFAST, a contemporary adaptation of the 1916 drama “Before Breakfast” by Eugene O’Neill – Faced with a pile of unpaid bills on her breakfast table, an overwhelmed wife underestimates the cost of getting her husband to face facts. (1 w., 40’s, about 10 min.)

VOWED AND WOWED, a contemporary adaptation of the 1919 comedy “The Camberley Triangle” by A.A. Milne – An easily confused woman can’t decide between her spouse, just returned from war, and her secret lover. The same plot as the original, except now all three are women. (3 w., 20’s, about 12 min.)

THE WOMAN WHO WANTED HER HUSBAND, a contemporary adaptation of the 1922 comedy "A Matter of Husbands" by Ferenc Molnar – A distraught woman confronts a canny actress with evidence that the actress is having an affair with the woman's husband. The actress responds with a clever performance. (2 w., 30’s – 50’s, about 10 min.)

A WOMB WITH A VIEW, an adaptation of my own comedy “Last-Minute Adjustments” – A young girl, minutes away from being born, has severe doubts about leaving the comfort of her current home. Then contractions begin. (4 or 5 w., ages can vary, about 10 min.)

and two plays which are NOT adaptations:

GRAM FOLDS THE LAUNDRY – An elderly woman folds laundry while her daughter irons. What appears to be an everyday conversation leads to a momentous decision by the older woman. (2 w., one 40’s-50’s, one 70’s-80’s, about 10 min.)

WHY EMILY NEEDS THAT OUTFIT – A question about whether or not to buy a new dress has existential ramifications. When it was produced in Los Angeles, DramaLogue called it “the high point of the evening”.(2 w., one 40’s or so, one 70’s or so, about 10 min.

POOL PARTY is a collection of seven short comedies with aquatic themes, set in pools, rivers, swamps and ponds. But you don’t need a pool for POOL PARTY – you just need imagination!

The plays, some of which are inspired by such classic tales as the Narcissus legend and “The Frog Prince”, vary in style from broad farce to sublime humanistic comedy. The character range from people (children, adult and dead) to frogs, primordial creatures, and a wise-cracking retired dolphin living in Beverly Hills.

POOL PARTY is designed to be performed by an ensemble cast of between five and many actors. Several of the individual plays have been produced, some in theaters and some in pools, but POOL PARTY awaits its world premiere.

ADVANCED CHEMISTRY shows that when it comes to love and lust, you're never old enough to know better.

Winner of the Pickering Award for Playwriting Excellence, ADVANCED CHEMISTRY features two thematically related one-act comedies designed to be performed on the same basic set by the same three actors (one older man, one older woman, plus a 30ish woman in supporting roles). I wrote ADVANCED CHEMISTRY not just to explore the generally taboo topic of sexuality among seniors, but also to give versatile older stage actors an opportunity to show off their comedic and dramatic chops.

The opening play, MOURNING GLORY (winner of the Civic Theater New Play Contest), is an irreverent romp which explores the question, "How long should you wait before making a pass at your deceased business partner's widow?"

The second play, GETTING LUCKY (winner, New Voices Play Festival), is a tender comedy about a woman about to have sex for the first time in eighteen years, and a man who wants more than just her body. .

The play has had well-received readings in New York, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Oregon and Michigan, featuring such actors as Ed Asner, Olympia Dukakis and Louise Lasser. In each of the readings, the audience laughed heartily at the first play and were surprised by how moved they were by the second.

SHEDDING LIGHT unfolds in one continuous scene, starting at dusk on December 22, 1999, when fears ran high about what might happen when Y2K arrived. An African-American cable repairman of about fifty arrives in a Manhattan high-rise condominium apartment to fix the cable reception of a high-strung, Jewish woman of the same age. What begins as awkward and humorous banter builds into increasingly challenging and personal questions about race and religion, both for the man, still recovering from old wounds, and the woman, who is having a crisis of faith after a traumatic year.

SHEDDING LIGHT shows that if you bring together one man, one woman, and a hundred candles, you can illuminate the world.

"an entertaining and insightful evening"
The River Reporter

"A provocative play is masterfully done and worth seeing"
The Times Herald-Record

THE NAKED TRUTH is a one-set, five-character (3 m., 2 w.) comedy about a reserved couple from Ohio who inherit a clothing-optional resort in Key West. The staff includes a front desk clerk who's an aspiring drag queen and a female handyman who moonlights as a dominatrix. Overwhelmed by the lifestyles of the resort's staff and guests (straight, gay and beyond), the couple is forced to face questions of what they believe and who they really are. In short, it's a sex comedy with more than sex on its mind.

"A refreshing new comedy... A rare gem of a comedy that makes us think seriously about our relationships even as we laugh at them."
Show Business Weekly

"Incredibly funny! A lot of honest laughs, outlandish antics and perfectly timed one-liners."
Theater Online

"A lark of a romp, good gag after good gag. Rich Orloff is a funny writer."
Lively Arts

"Entertaining, with something a little deeper... told with humor, caring, and a small dash of glitter."
OffOffOnline

"Hilarious. An outrageous comedy (that) keeps the laughs coming."
Portland Press Herald (Portland, Maine)

"Captivating. The characters are beautifully rendered, and the payoff grand."
The Daily Courier (Prescott, Arizona)

A collection of nine short comedies exploring the concept of disability and the assumptions we bring to it.

"Many, many pleasures! Rich Orloff's witty, unpredictable script fends off pity and preachiness with a daffy sense of humor."
The New York Times (Critic's Pick)

"A unique theatrical experience. FUNNY AS A CRUTCH packs in about a dozen laughs per square foot and raises your consciousness at the same time."
nytheatre.com (Pick of the Week)

"Rich Orloff packs a lot of agile humor into FUNNY AS A CRUTCH. The show resonates with meaningful authenticity while generating its laughs."
Back Stage (Critic's Pick)

YOUR HEART'S DESIRE, which has been described as "PLAZA SUITE with a libido", consists of five one-act comedies set in the same hotel room.  Each scene explores a different sexual combination:  a straight couple, a lesbian couple, a threesome, a foursome, and a woman alone (with her fantasies).

YOUR HEART'S DESIRE explores what we bring to sex, and what we take from it.

The one-set comedy is designed to be performed by a cast of four (2 m., 2 w.), with each actor playing multiple roles.

Finalist for the Woodward/Newman New Play Award and the nuVoices New Play Prize, CHATTING WITH THE TEA PARTY is a documentary-style play about a New York liberal playwright who decides to attend Tea Party meetings and events around the country and interview local Tea Party leaders to answer the question, "Who ARE these people?" Nothing the Tea Party people say in the play has been made up.

"Illuminating. Humanizing. Memorable. You can't beat this play by Rich Orloff for topicality. He did learn interesting lessons." - The New York Times

"Eye-opening! What makes CHATTING WITH THE TEA PARTY so engaging is Orloff's reach across the divide. Orloff has assembled a series of voices that illustrate not only our differences, but also our shared humanity." - Huffington Post

"One of the best scripts of the season, Broadway or Off. Timely, powerful and refreshing, with some sharp humor." - Reflections in the Light

"Insightful and engaging. The clarity and humor is a credit to the playwright." - TheaterOnline.com

"Compelling insights. He's trying, somewhat surprisingly, to humanize them. And he succeeds." - TheaterScene.com

"Humor and wit abounds throughout the play. Orloff has a gift for transforming philosophy into interesting dialogue." - Applause! Applause!