Sarah Jae Leiber

Sarah Jae Leiber

Sarah Jae Leiber is a New York-based playwright, screenwriter, essayist, dramaturg and theatre marketer. She is, crucially, from Philadelphia. Playwriting credits include Grand Theft Tea Leaves (Off-Broadway, Theatre Row), The Repair Man (Muhlenberg College Mainstage), PLEASE LAUGH (Dramatists Guild table read), and Freudian Oops (an ill-fated, COVID-cancelled production at Jewish Theatre of Bloomington); and...
Sarah Jae Leiber is a New York-based playwright, screenwriter, essayist, dramaturg and theatre marketer. She is, crucially, from Philadelphia. Playwriting credits include Grand Theft Tea Leaves (Off-Broadway, Theatre Row), The Repair Man (Muhlenberg College Mainstage), PLEASE LAUGH (Dramatists Guild table read), and Freudian Oops (an ill-fated, COVID-cancelled production at Jewish Theatre of Bloomington); and her 30-minute dramedy pilot, Hearts and Bones, was a semifinalist in ScreenCraft's 2021 TV Pilot competition. Sarah works in the marketing department at the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene and previously served as the entertainment editor at BroadwayWorld and the marketing apprentice at Actors Theatre of Louisville. She has essays and comedy writing at Polygon, Bitch Media, Bright Wall / Dark Room, Jewish Women's Archive, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Niche, Screen Queens, Sally Mag, The Broadway Beat, Small Screen, Screen Mayhem, and more. Leiber holds a B.A. in theatre and history from Muhlenberg College and wrote her thesis on art and activism during the AIDS crisis.

Plays

  • PLEASE LAUGH
    Welcome to SOMEONE'S UP LATE!, this universe's answer to THE TONIGHT SHOW or THE LATE LATE SHOW! Anything can happen here — celebrity interviews! Games! Ego trips! Murder! Stand-up comedy!

    Taking the form of a taping of an actual late night TV show, PLEASE LAUGH is about failing upwards, power (and who can wield it), and what becomes of the soul of the underdog when they become the top...
    Welcome to SOMEONE'S UP LATE!, this universe's answer to THE TONIGHT SHOW or THE LATE LATE SHOW! Anything can happen here — celebrity interviews! Games! Ego trips! Murder! Stand-up comedy!

    Taking the form of a taping of an actual late night TV show, PLEASE LAUGH is about failing upwards, power (and who can wield it), and what becomes of the soul of the underdog when they become the top dog. It's also about the power an audience has to shape a narrative.
  • i can fix him
    Enter the seedy underbelly of an early-2010s Jewish day school and meet Freddie, Donna, Sylvia, and Jane — members of an exclusive after school fan club that serves as a front for a successful fan fiction laundering ring. They'll write anything for you, for a price.

    i can fix him is about being a fan, being an uncool girl, and navigating befriending your fellow uncool girls.
  • the old jew who begat scrooge, on his deathbed
    As Jewish banker Ephraim Stein prepares to meet his maker, he's visited by three ghosts — Shylock, Scrooge, and Mrs. Maisel — who've come to warn him about how he'll be remembered to history, immortalized by Dickens.

    Written as part of the 2021 McCarter Theatre Center's Paula Vogel Christmas Carol Bake-Off.
  • The Repair Man
    The Repair Man centers around a young, depressed, Jewish woman named Nick who is visited on Yom Kippur by a Golem masquerading as a dishwasher repairman. Hilarity and a hard conversation ensues.

  • tom weiner is a sociopath
    Three Philadelphian teenage girls try to find evidence of the boy who wronged them - he moved away, and he doesn't exist on Facebook. In Boston, the boy who wronged them sits. Prepares. Plans. This play is about connection, growing up online, and how we make friends.
  • Freudian Oops
    Freudian Oops is a Jewish family dramedy about grief, French onion soup, and cold sores. Kara recently lost her dad, and it turns out her mom has been accidentally dating her psychiatrist. Family therapy gets more personal than ever.
  • Tingle (or, The Cold Sore Play)
    Teddy and Olivia just finished a really good first date. Will they kiss or not? Depends on whether or not Teddy is ready to commit to the Herpes Simplex Virus.
  • Grand Theft Tea Leaves
    While reviewing a symphony for work, Sal gets a call from the police—their ex-girlfriend, Kerry, has been arrested for the attempted theft of Revolutionary-era tea leaves from the local university museum. The play picks up in the parking lot of the police station after Sal posts Kerry's bail. The two contemplate friendship, platonic love, and pride as they explore the complexities of their once-romantic...
    While reviewing a symphony for work, Sal gets a call from the police—their ex-girlfriend, Kerry, has been arrested for the attempted theft of Revolutionary-era tea leaves from the local university museum. The play picks up in the parking lot of the police station after Sal posts Kerry's bail. The two contemplate friendship, platonic love, and pride as they explore the complexities of their once-romantic relationship. Ultimately, Kerry and Sal realize they don’t have to be in love to love each other a great deal.
  • The Dogfather
    A dog makes his owners an offer they can't refuse.