Seth Rozin

Seth Rozin

Seth (he/him) is a playwright, lyricist and librettist, as well as the Producing Artistic Director of InterAct Theatre Company in Philadelphia (the unseated territory of the Lenni-Lenape). His plays include SETTLEMENTS (produced at InterAct, 2022; Jewish Plays Project finalist, 2020), HUMAN RITES (produced at Phoenix Theatre, 2017; InterAct, 2018; winner, Philadelphia Award for Social Insight; published by...
Seth (he/him) is a playwright, lyricist and librettist, as well as the Producing Artistic Director of InterAct Theatre Company in Philadelphia (the unseated territory of the Lenni-Lenape). His plays include SETTLEMENTS (produced at InterAct, 2022; Jewish Plays Project finalist, 2020), HUMAN RITES (produced at Phoenix Theatre, 2017; InterAct, 2018; winner, Philadelphia Award for Social Insight; published by Broadway Play Publishing), THE THREE CHRISTS OF MANHATTAN (InterAct, 2015), TWO JEWS WALK INTO A WAR... (National New Play Network rolling world premieres at Florida Stage, Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey and New Jersey Rep, plus productions at Shadowlands Theater, Merrimack Rep, Unicorn Theatre, InterAct, Florida Studio Theatre, GEVA Theater, Barter Theater, Jewish Theatre of Grand Rapids, New Repertory Theatre, Playhouse on Park, Six Points Theatre, Theater J (2023); published by Playscripts), BLACK GOLD (NNPN rolling world premieres at InterAct, Phoenix Theatre, PROP Thr, Arts West Playhouse), REINVENTING EDEN (InterAct), MISSING LINK (InterAct, Civic Theatre of Schenectady), THE SPACE BETWEEN US (readings at Abington Theatre, Philadelphia Art Alliance) and MEN OF STONE (Theater Catalyst; published by Playscripts.com). He is also the composer, lyricist and book writer of A PASSING WIND a musical about history's greatest "fartiste" that premiered at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts' inaugural Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts in 2011, as well as the book and lyrics for ARTLESS and THE LIVING. Seth is the winner of two playwriting fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the 2006 Smith Prize (awarded by NNPN), a 2002 Commission from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture, and two Barrymore Award nominations for Outstanding New Play. He twice served as President of NNPN, as well as serving on the boards of Philadelphia Artists Collective, Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, New Paradise Laboratories, Fresh Visions Youth Theatre and Philadelphia Scenic Works (www.PhiladelphiaScenicWorks.org, a non-profit scene shop, which he co-founded in 2016). In 2018, Seth co-founded MusiCoLab (www.MusiCoLab.org), dedicated to supporting the development of new musical theatre in the Philadelphia region.

Plays

  • RITUAL NICK by Seth Rozin
    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: drama, faith-based + 1 more
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    Keyword: body autonomy, circumcision + 6 more
    Genre: drama, faith-based, political
    Keyword: body autonomy, circumcision, Jewish, Muslim, courtroom drama, religion, political, parenthood
    Alex, a Jewish federal prosecutor, learns that his child-to-be is going to be a boy, as he prepares for a high-profile trial of an Indian Muslim physician accused of facilitating female genital cutting on nine 7-year-old girls herein the U.S. But the deeper he probes the defendant the more conflicted he becomes. Careening between the trial and conversations with his pregnant wife and grandfather, Alex begins to...
    Alex, a Jewish federal prosecutor, learns that his child-to-be is going to be a boy, as he prepares for a high-profile trial of an Indian Muslim physician accused of facilitating female genital cutting on nine 7-year-old girls herein the U.S. But the deeper he probes the defendant the more conflicted he becomes. Careening between the trial and conversations with his pregnant wife and grandfather, Alex begins to question the balance between observing tradition and respecting his child's autonomy, the asymmetry in attitudes toward male vs. female circumcision, and whether actual courts, as well as the court of public opinion, will one day find his own embraced Jewish practice of infant male circumcision to also be a bridge too far.
  • SETTLEMENTS by Seth Rozin
    Recommendations: 7
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: drama, political
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    Keyword: Jewish, Israel-Palestine + 8 more
    Genre: drama, political
    Keyword: Jewish, Israel-Palestine, Israel, theatre, Politics, artist, art, censorship, MENA, non-binary character
    When the resident theatre at a Jewish Community Center commissions a new play about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a half-Jewish/half-Jordanian playwright, the Center finds itself pulled in several directions. One of the Center’s major donors, the Center’s Board President, the theatre’s Artistic Director and the playwright each fight for a different outcome, while the Center’s Executive Director tries...
    When the resident theatre at a Jewish Community Center commissions a new play about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a half-Jewish/half-Jordanian playwright, the Center finds itself pulled in several directions. One of the Center’s major donors, the Center’s Board President, the theatre’s Artistic Director and the playwright each fight for a different outcome, while the Center’s Executive Director tries to keep the institution from falling off its foundation. In these polarized times when extreme voices on the left and the right threaten to pull America one way or the other, SETTLEMENTS examines the difficult balancing act of holding onto the center.
  • STRUT by Seth Rozin
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: culture clash, gay + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: culture clash, gay, blue collar
    The Screaming Eagles Mummers Troupe in Philadelphia hasn't won first prize in more than fifteen years. J.B., Mac and the rest of the regular working guys that make up the troupe want to keep dressing up as some other kind of people and hope for the best, while J.B.'s son, Jimmy, wants to bring in a big-time designer from New York. But when acclaimed, Brazilian-born, openly gay Paolo arrives on the...
    The Screaming Eagles Mummers Troupe in Philadelphia hasn't won first prize in more than fifteen years. J.B., Mac and the rest of the regular working guys that make up the troupe want to keep dressing up as some other kind of people and hope for the best, while J.B.'s son, Jimmy, wants to bring in a big-time designer from New York. But when acclaimed, Brazilian-born, openly gay Paolo arrives on the scene, with his worldliness and expansive ideas,unanticipated tensions arise inside the clubhouse.
  • ARTLESS by Seth Rozin
    Cast: 
    12
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    Genre: comedy, musical + 2 more
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    Keyword: Art and Artists, love + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, musical, political, romantic comedy
    Keyword: Art and Artists, love, reality, meta, musical
    In this LYSISTRATA-inspired meta-theatrical musical within a musical, artists threaten to launch a worldwide strike, which forces two young lovers -- a composer and a character in his musical -- to defy the rules of reality. What will life be like in a world without art?
  • AND THEIR SONS, TOO by Seth Rozin
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: family, child abuse + 5 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: family, child abuse, sexual abuse, legacy, morality in complex situations, college football, African American characters
    Envisioned as a sequel to Arthur Miller's ALL MY SONS in combination with the Joe Paterno story, AND THEIR SONS, TOO examines the real-life consequences of a father's sins and the far-reaching stain of his legacy. A few years earlier, it was discovered that Joe -- a beloved and celebrated head football coach at the local university -- failed to take action when he learned about one of his assistant...
    Envisioned as a sequel to Arthur Miller's ALL MY SONS in combination with the Joe Paterno story, AND THEIR SONS, TOO examines the real-life consequences of a father's sins and the far-reaching stain of his legacy. A few years earlier, it was discovered that Joe -- a beloved and celebrated head football coach at the local university -- failed to take action when he learned about one of his assistant coaches molesting boys in the shower. Joe's oldest son, Larry, took his own life; which, in turn, prompted Joe to take his. Now, Joe's surviving wife, Kate, and their younger son, Chris, are just beginning to adapt to the new normal of their lives as pariahs in their community. When a former star player-turned-family lawyer shows up with unwelcome news about the ongoing investigation, all three must grapple with the truth of their existence.
  • HUMAN RITES by Seth Rozin
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: drama, political
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    Keyword: Race, privilege + 7 more
    Genre: drama, political
    Keyword: Race, privilege, science, Academia, African, African American, women, human rights, African American characters
    After receiving a complaint from a group of students, an African American dean at a major American university summons a renowned Jewish professor of cultural psychology into her office to discuss his controversial research. But it is the extra-marital affair these two academic heavyweights engaged in years ago, along with a surprise visitor, that brings their battle over science, privilege and cultural pluralism to a boil.
  • THE THREE CHRISTS OF MANHATTAN by Seth Rozin
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: religion, christianity + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, faith-based, satire
    Keyword: religion, christianity, atheism, psychology, capitalism, income inequality, Jewish, African American characters
    A play for the Trump era. On the day that Dr. Paula Posner -- a neurotic atheist Jewish psychiatrist -- opens her private practice, she is visited by three "patients," each of whom believes they are Jesus Christ. The first, dressed in a white tunic and sandals, is the spitting image of the iconic loving Jesus. The second, in dreadlocks and jeans, is the social justice Jesus. The third, in a stylish...
    A play for the Trump era. On the day that Dr. Paula Posner -- a neurotic atheist Jewish psychiatrist -- opens her private practice, she is visited by three "patients," each of whom believes they are Jesus Christ. The first, dressed in a white tunic and sandals, is the spitting image of the iconic loving Jesus. The second, in dreadlocks and jeans, is the social justice Jesus. The third, in a stylish and sporty power suit, is the prosperity gospel Jesus. Dr. Posner invites the three Jesi to a joint session, and they engage in a comic battle to save her soul, as well as the future of humanity.
  • A PASSING WIND by Seth Rozin
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    8
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    Genre: biography, comedy + 4 more
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    Keyword: Art and Artists, France + 7 more
    Genre: biography, comedy, dark comedy, docudrama/historic, musical, period
    Keyword: Art and Artists, France, French, farts, Pujol, Monet, Bernhardt, satire, Freud
    This rags-to-riches-to-rags musical comedy follows the (mostly) true story of Joseph Pujol, a humble baker in Southern France who, having been blessed with an "anomalous sphincter," followed his dream to perform at the Moulin Rouge in Paris during the Belle Epoque. Pujol became an immediate sensation with his incredible feats of anal agility, much to the dismay of the great artists of the day --...
    This rags-to-riches-to-rags musical comedy follows the (mostly) true story of Joseph Pujol, a humble baker in Southern France who, having been blessed with an "anomalous sphincter," followed his dream to perform at the Moulin Rouge in Paris during the Belle Epoque. Pujol became an immediate sensation with his incredible feats of anal agility, much to the dismay of the great artists of the day -- Claude Monet, Erik Satie and Sarah Bernhardt. But at the height of Pujol's soaring popularity, France was plunged into the devastation of World War I, after which, people didn't find his act funny any more, and he quietly disappeared. Narrated by Sigmund Freud, A PASSING WIND juxtaposes big ideas with bathroom humor as it explores the conflict between high art and popular art, and the way larger events influence our sense of humor.

    "[Rozin] crafts an illuminating investigation into the nature of art through classic Broadway musical numbers...and, yes, fart jokes. [He] embraces with gusto every synonym for fart and butt in existence to craft a surprisingly sophisticated take on potty humor that had the audience simultaneously giggling and groaning."

  • TWO JEWS WALK INTO A WAR... by Seth Rozin
    Recommendations: 4
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: Jewish, Afghanistan + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, faith-based
    Keyword: Jewish, Afghanistan, vaudeville
    Ishaq and Zeblyan are the last two Jews in Kabul, Afghanistan. They seek to rekindle their faith, rebuild their synagogue and repopulate their community. But they hate each other. Driven apart by mutual animosity, this Middle-Eastern odd couple must commit to a great act of faith in order to achieve their shared goal of keeping the Jewish diaspora alive in Afghanistan. But will they kill each other first?
  • BLACK GOLD by Seth Rozin
    Recommendations: 5
    ·
    Cast: 
    6–25
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: Race, class + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, political, satire
    Keyword: Race, class, ensemble, African American, energy, African American characters
    Sadly, this play is timelier than ever in the age of Trump. What happens when Curtis Walker, an unemployed African American auto worker living in Detroit’s inner-city, purchases an oil rig on eBay and taps into one of America’s largest oil reserves right under his own back yard? This fast-paced, vaudevillian take on the not-too-distant future chronicles Walker’s discovery, as it precipitates a wild chain...
    Sadly, this play is timelier than ever in the age of Trump. What happens when Curtis Walker, an unemployed African American auto worker living in Detroit’s inner-city, purchases an oil rig on eBay and taps into one of America’s largest oil reserves right under his own back yard? This fast-paced, vaudevillian take on the not-too-distant future chronicles Walker’s discovery, as it precipitates a wild chain reaction that throws the world into turmoil, proving just how much America’s petroleum addiction keeps world events on edge. Will the newly-tapped resource lead to violence or prosperity? Will the poor get rich? Will the rich get richer? Will America’s economy skyrocket? Will the Middle East move toward unprecedented peace or unimaginable chaos? Six actors play over 80 roles in this satire of class, race and greed in a country that will go to dangerous lengths to keep the cheap crude flowing.

    "Rozin's bracing, biting script...achieves the Swiftian feat of prompting both righteous anger and bitter laughs." -- Chicago Reader
  • THE SPACE BETWEEN US by Seth Rozin
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    7
    ·
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: Art and Artists, Cuban + 3 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama, experimental
    Keyword: Art and Artists, Cuban, marriage, dreams, prophecy
    A surreal and visceral drama inspired by the true-life story of minimalist sculptor Carl Andre and Cuban-American body artist, Ana Mendieta, whose prophetic and tumultuous marriage ended when she fell (or was pushed) to her tragic death in 1985.
  • MISSING LINK by Seth Rozin
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: drama, faith-based
    ·
    Keyword: science, religion + 2 more
    Genre: drama, faith-based
    Keyword: science, religion, christianity, Jewish
    A married couple lose their only daughter in a tragic plane crash and are catapulted into conflicting crises of faith in this human drama about grief, faith, and the evolution of the human spirit.
  • MEN OF STONE by Seth Rozin
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: biography, comedy + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: Art and Artists, renaissance + 2 more
    Genre: biography, comedy, docudrama/historic, period
    Keyword: Art and Artists, renaissance, Moses, Michelangelo
    What happens when your greatest work of art comes to life...as the wrong person? The great Renaissance sculptor Michelangelo (a.k.a. Mickey) is nearing the completion of his magnificent statue of Moses, commissioned by Pope Julius II. But when Moses comes to life in the blue-collar persona of Mickey's model, the local butcher, Mickey's life begins to crumble. He frantically tries to undo his...
    What happens when your greatest work of art comes to life...as the wrong person? The great Renaissance sculptor Michelangelo (a.k.a. Mickey) is nearing the completion of his magnificent statue of Moses, commissioned by Pope Julius II. But when Moses comes to life in the blue-collar persona of Mickey's model, the local butcher, Mickey's life begins to crumble. He frantically tries to undo his inadvertent miracle, as the butcher, the imperious Pope, and a ravenous Countess all stake their claim in a work of art that truly does imitate life. Men of Stone is a farcical comedy about human nature and the pursuit of perfection, with a contemporary spin.
  • THE LIVING (a musical) by Seth Rozin
    Cast: 
    9
    ·
    Genre: drama, musical + 2 more
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    Keyword: musical, gun violence + 4 more
    Genre: drama, musical, political, tragedy
    Keyword: musical, gun violence, survivors, high school, theatre, trauma
    Seven (former) classmates and two teachers reunite in an auditorium ten years after a mass shooting turned their after-school rehearsal for UNCLE VANYA into a bloodbath. Players – the extra-curricular theatre troupe -- brought all of them together and made them a family, and they are returning to the theatre (the place and the art form) for much-needed healing and closure. Just days before the building is...
    Seven (former) classmates and two teachers reunite in an auditorium ten years after a mass shooting turned their after-school rehearsal for UNCLE VANYA into a bloodbath. Players – the extra-curricular theatre troupe -- brought all of them together and made them a family, and they are returning to the theatre (the place and the art form) for much-needed healing and closure. Just days before the building is scheduled to be razed to the ground and made into a park to memorialize the tragedy, these nine survivors have gathered on the anniversary of the shooting to revisit some scenes from the play that never got to be performed. As they rekindle the joy and drama of their high school theatre days, they recognize how much the characters in VANYA mirrored their own issues, and they resolve not to accept the sadness of wasted lives. Some of them have seen their lives become wholly defined by the shooting, pursuing careers in activism or community leadership. Others have wrestled with crippling fear and mental illness. And others found their true loves out of the fog of trauma. THE LIVING is ultimately about the power of theatre to bring people to together and the devastation of random violence.