Zoe Senese-Grossberg

Zoe Senese-Grossberg

Zoe Senese-Grossberg (she/her/hers) is a New York based playwright, adaptor, director, dramaturg, and teaching artist. Zoe is a highly collaborative artist who often works with text rich plays, adaptations, and plays with music. Her work shifts from highly stylized movement based works to quiet actor driven dramas. She has received awards from organizations such as the National Playwrights Conference, YoungArts...
Zoe Senese-Grossberg (she/her/hers) is a New York based playwright, adaptor, director, dramaturg, and teaching artist. Zoe is a highly collaborative artist who often works with text rich plays, adaptations, and plays with music. Her work shifts from highly stylized movement based works to quiet actor driven dramas. She has received awards from organizations such as the National Playwrights Conference, YoungArts, and Penguin Random House. She is the current literary director of the Firebird Project.

As a playwright, Zoe is attracted to intimate relationships but grand stories. Many of her plays are multi-hour epics revolving around historic subject matter ranging in time periods from Regency England to the near future. Themes are often around Jewish identity and diaspora, queerness, coming of age, and human sexuality. She is fascinated by what turns people on and pulls them apart. Tonally, her plays are poetic, deeply empathetic, and highly naturalist in their dialogue. With her background as a classically trained musician,  and her passion for folk music, most of her work as both a writer and a director incorporates elements of music and song. 

Zoe is always looking for new experiences, new modes of storytelling, and new collaborators. 

Plays

  • Lay The Bent to the Bonny Broom by Zoe Senese-Grossberg
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 6 more
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    Keyword: Regency England, human-robot relationships + 8 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, fantasy, horror, mystery/thriller, period, science fiction, tragedy
    Keyword: Regency England, human-robot relationships, Gay and Jewish, Meta-theatrical, science fiction, play with music, Jane Austen, LGBTQ, Jewish, historical
    The Gideons, a wealthy Jewish family in Regency England, attempt to pass the days through an endless season of balls and social pleasantries. Caroline dreams of impossible marriages to gentiles, Edith yearns to be a prominent scientist, and Simon simply wants to go back home to London. When Edith builds an automaton who ends up being the perfect woman; she seems to be a solution to all their problems. However,...
    The Gideons, a wealthy Jewish family in Regency England, attempt to pass the days through an endless season of balls and social pleasantries. Caroline dreams of impossible marriages to gentiles, Edith yearns to be a prominent scientist, and Simon simply wants to go back home to London. When Edith builds an automaton who ends up being the perfect woman; she seems to be a solution to all their problems. However, the plan backfires when Edith and the automaton fall in love, and then the automaton begins to murder all of their suitors. Part horror-comedy, part Austenian romance, interspersed with haunting folk ballads and questions of queerness and Jewish identity, it asks about the type of stories we can fit ourselves and our desires into.
  • Boy My Greatness by Zoe Senese-Grossberg
    Recommendations: 6
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: Shakespeare, gender and sexuality + 6 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, period, tragedy
    Keyword: Shakespeare, gender and sexuality, discussions of childhood sexual abuse, Child Acting, metatheatrical, cross-dressing performance, LGBT Coming of Age, LGBTQ
    In the summer of 1606, 4 boy players in The King's Men warm up, practice lines, and gossip in between rehearsals for the premieres of Twelfth Night and Antony and Cleopatra. Disruptions comes in the way of the arrival of a new star, twelve year old Robin, and the return of a former boy player turned Puritan preacher. The incoming Plague and anti-theatrical sentiment further threaten their way of life and...
    In the summer of 1606, 4 boy players in The King's Men warm up, practice lines, and gossip in between rehearsals for the premieres of Twelfth Night and Antony and Cleopatra. Disruptions comes in the way of the arrival of a new star, twelve year old Robin, and the return of a former boy player turned Puritan preacher. The incoming Plague and anti-theatrical sentiment further threaten their way of life and force them to consider their futures on the stage. A play about growing up, gender, child acting, and a part of theater history we seek to forget...
  • At The End of the World by Zoe Senese-Grossberg
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: drama, period + 1 more
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    Keyword: Jewish assimilation, World War Two + 8 more
    Genre: drama, period, tragedy
    Keyword: Jewish assimilation, World War Two, the Holocaust, journalism, living room play, contains LGBTQ character, Historic, Anti-Semitism, 1930s New York, American fascism
    In 1938, after publishing an expose on American Nazism and facing a shocking act of anti-semitic violence, Julia and Edward move from Boston to New York City to stay with his cousin, Freyda. Tensions immediately arise between Freyda, a proud Jewish woman, and Edward who has Americanized his name and is dating Julia, a gentile. Over the course of two evenings and four years, the three are pulled apart and drawn...
    In 1938, after publishing an expose on American Nazism and facing a shocking act of anti-semitic violence, Julia and Edward move from Boston to New York City to stay with his cousin, Freyda. Tensions immediately arise between Freyda, a proud Jewish woman, and Edward who has Americanized his name and is dating Julia, a gentile. Over the course of two evenings and four years, the three are pulled apart and drawn together as the advent of the second world war forces them all to question identities, allegiances, and what it might mean to truly live at the end of the world.
  • Orchard by Zoe Senese-Grossberg
    Cast: 
    8
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    Genre: adaptation, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: Chekhov Adaptation, the Holocaust + 4 more
    Genre: adaptation, drama, period, tragedy
    Keyword: Chekhov Adaptation, the Holocaust, class struggle, Jewish identity, features great roles for older women, 1930s Germany
    A loose adaptation and deconstruction of Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard recasts the Gayevs as a declining prominent Jewish German family in the summer of 1935. Esther Gartenberg and her two daughters, Louisa and Hannah, grapple with love, class, and politics after the family railroad empire is lost due to Aryanization and the estate is set to go to auction. As the characters enjoy the summer heat and lively debates,...
    A loose adaptation and deconstruction of Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard recasts the Gayevs as a declining prominent Jewish German family in the summer of 1935. Esther Gartenberg and her two daughters, Louisa and Hannah, grapple with love, class, and politics after the family railroad empire is lost due to Aryanization and the estate is set to go to auction. As the characters enjoy the summer heat and lively debates, only the new money factory owner, Kurt Lange, sees the writing on the wall. Orchard asks what happens when complacency bred of wealth proves deadly.
  • Etz Hayim by Zoe Senese-Grossberg
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: drama, faith-based + 2 more
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    Keyword: coming of age, Lesbian + 8 more
    Genre: drama, faith-based, period, tragedy
    Keyword: coming of age, Lesbian, Hebrew, Jewish, Holocaust, warsaw ghetto, romance, two-hander, short play, young women
    Two fourteen year old girls meet after temple and are drawn to one another instantly, bonding over the imagined cultivation of a tree. As the days of the ghetto become numbered, difficult decisions must be made and priorities and loyalties are questioned. Interspersed with dream sequences of monologues and traditional Hebrew prayers, Etz Hayim is about first love, Jewish faith, and the power of these two forces...
    Two fourteen year old girls meet after temple and are drawn to one another instantly, bonding over the imagined cultivation of a tree. As the days of the ghetto become numbered, difficult decisions must be made and priorities and loyalties are questioned. Interspersed with dream sequences of monologues and traditional Hebrew prayers, Etz Hayim is about first love, Jewish faith, and the power of these two forces to overcome any possible obstacles.
  • Negative Capability by Zoe Senese-Grossberg
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: Brooklyn, class + 8 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: Brooklyn, class, poetry, Relationships, mother/daughter, Sisters, mental illness, homelessness, awkward romance, LGBT Coming of Age
    Kit, a college dropout, has fallen off the grid for about 2 years as a result of his sister's death. He reemerges after publishing a poetry book, crashing at his friend Brian's home in Brooklyn. In the house, Brian's housekeeper, Margaret, lives with her two daughters, the bright and promising Olive and the more directionless Frankie. Kit begins to form intense relationships with both daughters...
    Kit, a college dropout, has fallen off the grid for about 2 years as a result of his sister's death. He reemerges after publishing a poetry book, crashing at his friend Brian's home in Brooklyn. In the house, Brian's housekeeper, Margaret, lives with her two daughters, the bright and promising Olive and the more directionless Frankie. Kit begins to form intense relationships with both daughters through his poetry, which leads to conflict and confusion in the household. Inspired by the life and poetry of John Keats, Negative Capability explores the powers of art, the nature of success, and the way we need one another.
  • Christmas Hamlet by Zoe Senese-Grossberg
    Cast: 
    10
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    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy + 4 more
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    Keyword: Shakespeare, Hamlet + 5 more
    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy, horror, mystery/thriller, science fiction, tragedy
    Keyword: Shakespeare, Hamlet, christmas, horror-comedy, adaptation, Classic Plays, family drama
    Pulled out of college for his father's funeral and then his mother's wedding, Hamlet is now stuck home for the holidays with his new stepfather who happens to also be his uncle, the neighbors who just won't stop coming over, and his mother who won't admit anything's wrong. When a ghostly vision of his father demands he seek vengeance for his murder, Hamlet is led down a bloody path with...
    Pulled out of college for his father's funeral and then his mother's wedding, Hamlet is now stuck home for the holidays with his new stepfather who happens to also be his uncle, the neighbors who just won't stop coming over, and his mother who won't admit anything's wrong. When a ghostly vision of his father demands he seek vengeance for his murder, Hamlet is led down a bloody path with tragic conclusions. A new, tight, 2.5 hour long adaptation set at a wealthy New England family's Christmas Party recenters Hamlet as a family drama with a horror-comedy twist and invites you to the worst Christmas party of your life...
  • Morning After by Zoe Senese-Grossberg
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: fascism, speculative fiction + 2 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, tragedy
    Keyword: fascism, speculative fiction, friends, LGBT themes
    Five friends wake up hungover, sweaty, and disoriented after a party almost none of them can fully remember. With plans to leave the country over the next few days to escape an incoming regime, a sinking feeling sets in as their flights begin to be canceled. Tensions run high, betrayals are exposed, and friendships are tested as all five begin to grapple with the reality of the nightmare they have entered. A...
    Five friends wake up hungover, sweaty, and disoriented after a party almost none of them can fully remember. With plans to leave the country over the next few days to escape an incoming regime, a sinking feeling sets in as their flights begin to be canceled. Tensions run high, betrayals are exposed, and friendships are tested as all five begin to grapple with the reality of the nightmare they have entered. A play about youth, fascism, and what to do when the party is finally over.
  • Other Eden by Zoe Senese-Grossberg
    Cast: 
    8
    ·
    Genre: drama, period + 1 more
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    Keyword: English Identity, Post-War Identity + 7 more
    Genre: drama, period, tragedy
    Keyword: English Identity, Post-War Identity, World War Two, London Blitz, 1940s-1960s, LGBT Identity, Jewish identity, Parent/child relationships, Genre
    Waltham House is the perfect refuge found only in children's literature where six children are sent to weather the Second World War, looked after by the distant but loving “Uncle.” Set over the course of 3 decades, the six grow up, together, and apart as England evolves from its pre to post war identity. Through an exploration of genre across British literature, Other Eden tracks the six as they grapple...
    Waltham House is the perfect refuge found only in children's literature where six children are sent to weather the Second World War, looked after by the distant but loving “Uncle.” Set over the course of 3 decades, the six grow up, together, and apart as England evolves from its pre to post war identity. Through an exploration of genre across British literature, Other Eden tracks the six as they grapple with their place in the world and the nature of childhood, innocence, sexuality, and their love for one another.