Jonathan Curiel

Jonathan Curiel is a San Francisco-based writer and journalist who has written widely about visual art, music, film, Islam, the Middle East, global affairs, and other subjects of interest. He's the author of a one-act play, three 10-minute plays, and two full-length plays: "The Wailing In-Laws: Amal and Abraham Plan Their Muslim-Jewish Wedding Day," and "The A** List: Art and Assassination in the Age of Donald Trump." In reviewing "The A** List" for its 2019 playwright competition, the Austin Film Festival said: “This drama is a piercing examination of how powerlessness to overcome one’s circumstances can lead to dangerous and destructive behavior. Politics of our time, brutish social media exchanges and exposed sexual violence make up the perfect toxic environment for the setting of this...

Jonathan Curiel is a San Francisco-based writer and journalist who has written widely about visual art, music, film, Islam, the Middle East, global affairs, and other subjects of interest. He's the author of a one-act play, three 10-minute plays, and two full-length plays: "The Wailing In-Laws: Amal and Abraham Plan Their Muslim-Jewish Wedding Day," and "The A** List: Art and Assassination in the Age of Donald Trump." In reviewing "The A** List" for its 2019 playwright competition, the Austin Film Festival said: “This drama is a piercing examination of how powerlessness to overcome one’s circumstances can lead to dangerous and destructive behavior. Politics of our time, brutish social media exchanges and exposed sexual violence make up the perfect toxic environment for the setting of this story. . . . The playwright’s use of irony at the end of the play is provocative.”

Scripts

The Wailing In-Laws: Amal and Abraham Plan Their Muslim-Jewish Wedding Day

by Jonathan Curiel

Synopsis

A Muslim-American woman from Syria meets a Jewish-American man in San Francisco through a bizarre set of circumstances, but love still emerges for a couple that’s determined to break from their families’ biggest traditions. Standing in their way: In-laws from both sides, who question Amal and Abraham’s plan to marry and their plan to raise their kids as both Jews and Muslims. What will their offspring actually...

A Muslim-American woman from Syria meets a Jewish-American man in San Francisco through a bizarre set of circumstances, but love still emerges for a couple that’s determined to break from their families’ biggest traditions. Standing in their way: In-laws from both sides, who question Amal and Abraham’s plan to marry and their plan to raise their kids as both Jews and Muslims. What will their offspring actually be called? “Jewslims”? “Jarabs”? How will Amal and Abraham deal with haters who say they’re both betraying their faiths? And how can Amal and Abraham even pull off a wedding if close relatives are trying to sabotage it? "The Wailing In-Laws: Amal and Abraham Plan Their Muslim-Jewish Wedding Day" takes every character on a journey of discovery – a discovery that leads to doubts, fights, lots of bad jokes, and surprising realizations about historic truths and long-held assumptions that are no longer valid. Secrets spill out. Revelations are made. And when all is done, the families link the wedding with everything from OJ Simpson’s murder trial to Julius Caesar’s horrific comb-over. The biggest question isn’t whether Amal and Abraham will survive the wedding. It’s whether everyone involved will survive the dust-ups and crack-ups that precede the big nuptials.

Miles Davis Would Have Kicked Your Ass! (Or: Lesson #1 in How to Really Love Jazz)

by Jonathan Curiel

Synopsis

Three people in their 20s are listening to Miles Davis' music when one says he wants to go back in time and drink with the great trumpeter. The jazz fan's roommate tries to set him straight about Davis' view of jazz dilettantes. And the jazz fan's girlfriend also gives him a reality check. What ensues is a revealing conversation about jazz, race, gender, history, hypocrisy, and other subjects that make the three...

Three people in their 20s are listening to Miles Davis' music when one says he wants to go back in time and drink with the great trumpeter. The jazz fan's roommate tries to set him straight about Davis' view of jazz dilettantes. And the jazz fan's girlfriend also gives him a reality check. What ensues is a revealing conversation about jazz, race, gender, history, hypocrisy, and other subjects that make the three twentysomethings laugh, shout, and try to reason with each other. Will their friendship survive their conflicting views about Miles Davis, Kenny G, and other polarizing figures? And will they solve the age-old question of "What makes for good music?"

The Second Date: Lies, Lust, and Longing for Relief from “the Hell That Is Tinder”

by Jonathan Curiel

Synopsis

A 58-year-old man goes on a second date with a younger woman named Soraya. They met on Tinder, and had a decent first date, and now they're sitting down at an unnamed American restaurant – but new revelations derail the date within minutes. Who's telling the most egregious lies? And who's raising the most red flags? Their conversation connects the "digital hell" that is dating apps with the "analogue hell" that...

A 58-year-old man goes on a second date with a younger woman named Soraya. They met on Tinder, and had a decent first date, and now they're sitting down at an unnamed American restaurant – but new revelations derail the date within minutes. Who's telling the most egregious lies? And who's raising the most red flags? Their conversation connects the "digital hell" that is dating apps with the "analogue hell" that can be real life. But even hell can be funny and insightful about human nature – and so it is with "The Second Date," with twists and turns that say everything about the world we live in.

The Last Toll-Taker: A Golden Gate Bridge Confessional

by Jonathan Curiel

Synopsis

A woman who was a toll-taker on the Golden Gate Bridge decides “enough is enough” and goes to YouTube to reveal the highs and lows of her decades-long career on the world’s most famous span. Those highs and lows involve love, hate, chance moments, thrilling sights, and all the things that usually make a life – but in her case, we get something more: An unforgettable perspective on a simple transaction (paying a...

A woman who was a toll-taker on the Golden Gate Bridge decides “enough is enough” and goes to YouTube to reveal the highs and lows of her decades-long career on the world’s most famous span. Those highs and lows involve love, hate, chance moments, thrilling sights, and all the things that usually make a life – but in her case, we get something more: An unforgettable perspective on a simple transaction (paying a toll) that millions of people have done without considering how they've touched the person on the other side of the toll booth.

1 Corner, 4 Strangers - Let the 'Diss Course' Begin

by Jonathan Curiel

Synopsis

An old, homeless man asks for change as he stands at a busy San Francisco intersection. A young, wealthy tech worker puts $10 in his cup – but also gives him a snarky comment that leads to a huge verbal fight. A passerby and her camera-yielding boyfriend quickly get involved. Their collective back-and-forth – about politics, about “genderized” language, and about other loaded topics – brings them all to the...

An old, homeless man asks for change as he stands at a busy San Francisco intersection. A young, wealthy tech worker puts $10 in his cup – but also gives him a snarky comment that leads to a huge verbal fight. A passerby and her camera-yielding boyfriend quickly get involved. Their collective back-and-forth – about politics, about “genderized” language, and about other loaded topics – brings them all to the brink. Will they tone down their rhetoric before it’s too late?