Rich Orloff is a theatrical writer who writes in diverse forms and whose work is performed in a variety of settings. BLESSINGS FROM THE PANDEMIC, his theatrical mosaic, has been performed by professional theaters, community theaters, youth theaters, senior theaters, schools, churches, synagogues, and libraries. His comedy FUNNY AS A CRUTCH was a New York Times Critic’s Pick, and his comedic revue ROMANTIC FOOLS has had over 120 productions around the world, including two in Madrid, where apparently they have more romantic problems than the rest of us. Rich’s documentary-style plays include CHATTING WITH THE TEA PARTY (finalist, Woodward-Newman New Play Award) and VIETNAM 101: THE WAR ON CAMPUS which has had over 50 productions at theaters, colleges and high schools.
Rich’s other full-length plays, mostly comedies, have won such awards as the Pickering Award for Playwriting Excellence, the Abeles Foundation Playwrights Award, the Goody Playwriting Fellowship, and first place in the Maxim Mazumdar New Play Competition. His plays have been presented at such theaters as Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Dayton Playhouse, Detroit Rep, Florida Studio Theatre, New Jersey Rep, West Coast Ensemble, Key West Theatre Festival, Phoenix Theatre (in Indianapolis), Phoenix Stage Company (in Connecticut), and The Phoenix Theatre Company (in Phoenix!), and abroad at such theaters as Vienna’s English Theatre and Jewish Theatre of Bulgaria.
Rich’s 80 short plays have had over 2000 productions on six continents – and a staged reading on Antarctica. His short comedies have been included seven times in the annual “Best American Short Plays” anthology series (more than any other contemporary playwright) and four times in the annual “Best Ten-Minute Play” anthology.
Rich has performed his autobiographical one-person show IT’S A BEAUTIFUL WOUND at both theaters and psychedelic conferences. He wrote the librettos for opera adaptations of two of his short plays. and he also wrote the educational children’s play SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS FIGHT TUBERCULOSIS TOGETHER, which was a big hit in Kosovo.
In his spare time, Rich revises his bio. www.richorloff.com