Playwright | New York City

Playwrighting with Purpose 

Get to know the playwright in New York City charting the newest chapter in his professional journey, one that is turning out to be an increasingly important part of his future. What began as a hobby has grown into a serious creative pursuit with an ambitious long-term goal: to write a play worthy of winning a Pulitzer Prize. (“Why not? Someone has to win it!”)

Rob’s goal is to write effective and compelling dialogue that will intrigue audiences and keep them wanting for more. He wants to instill in people’s minds a memorable and thought-provoking discussion long after the theater performance’s final curtain.

The old adage, "write about what you know", has been the inspiration for all the plays he has written to date. In 2025, this approach won him a Fellowship at the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing. As in his real estate practice, he researches, researches and researches to make sure the dialogue he writes is informed, makes sense, and flows naturally – with some creative license taken for added measure to keep his audience tuned-in, attentive, and turned on to advocate his work to other theatregoers looking for a theatrical experience that is as thought-provoking as it is entertaining.

Rob wants to connect with theater companies of all sizes interested in new works and emerging playwrights with a lifetime of varied experiences. He also hopes to attract the support of art patrons especially interested in plays about human emotions and different lifestyles, including LGBTQ. For prospective production opportunities, Rob welcomes work with regional theater companies located anywhere!

When writing – or inspired to write – a new play, I draw from personal experience and observation of the people, places and events that touch my everyday life.  As much as I wish I had a greater musical capability (OK, any!), my writing tends to lean towards the darker side of life, yet viewed from the perspective that there is always some much-needed comic relief to be found no matter how grim the situation might be.  If any of the following play synopses capture your interest, please click on the “I want to read the script!” link and I will gladly fulfill your request.  Please note that all my scripts are copyrighted and that I trust that my creative work will be duly respected. 

Plays to keep you thinking…after the final curtain 

Margo and Yvonne are planning a 90th birthday party celebration for their mother, Irene.  But since they don’t get along, there is always subtle digs at one another about who does more for their mother, or gets more from their mother.  Irene tries to be the peacemaker although now, on the cusp of her 90th birthday, she’s being confronted with a much bigger issue:  Having to make peace and come to terms with a secret that she has never revealed to her daughters but now may be forced to.

Crazy. Cat. Ladies 

- This play tells the story of a slightly eccentric – some might say dysfunctional – family.

The cast of characters:

IRENE – Family matriarch, widowed, 90 years old. Some hearing and short-term memory issues but still spunky and fairly independent. 
MARGO – Irene’s oldest daughter, mid-50s. Retired, never married, border-line eccentric and “crazy” for her cat Puffy, her surrogate child. Margo also cares for a herd of feral cats. Her whole life and style is dictated by her obsession with cats.  She lives at home with Irene. 
YVONNE – Irene’s youngest daughter, also mid-50s. Everything about Yvonne is big: Personality and body -- but not necessarily fat and not overly tall. More like zaftig.  Big hair, jewelry, makeup, shoes, purse, colors, patterns, etc.  Only her clothes are a size too small. 
PUFFY – Puffy is a cat played by an actor. She never interacts with the other characters or cats, other than scenes with Margo and then it's Margo doing most of the talking. It's as if Puffy is invisible. But Puffy chimes-in with strategically timed comments about what is going on or being said by the three main characters.  Only the audience hears what she has to say. Puffy is the “color commentator”. She is almost always on stage, positioned downstage left or right. Props include an over-sized cat bed, an  elaborate over-sized scratch post, and some cat toys, including catnip of which Puffy regularly indulges, like smoking a joint or having an evening cocktail. In some scenes, Margo is “holding” and “stroking” Puffy, but in pantomime. Puffy is very real but is also like an imaginary friend that only Margo can see, feel and touch. 
HARRY - Irene’s high-school sweetheart and life-long friend. 91 years old. He and Irene share a long-held secret. 

﻿I want to read the script!﻿

Elliott’s life was cut short and the entire setting of the play takes place in the afterlife.  It is here that he is assigned to “take under his wing” the recently departed Patrick, killed in a car accident while driving under the influence after his graduating class’ 50th Reunion.  Elliott remembers Patrick from high school.  Patrick had tormented him on a regular basis.  However, Patrick does not remember Elliott and Elliott prefers to keep it that way, until…

A/K/A Paul

- Fifty years have passed since Elliott graduated from high school.  As with many teens,  especially those struggling with their sexual identity, Elliott’s high school years were not happy and his memories of them are largely negative.  Only once did he attend the school’s annual Thanksgiving weekend alumni mixer which was especially designed to reunite members of the previous senior year’s graduating class.  It was not a pleasant experience for Elliott who had made many new friends and a new life for himself at his out-of-town college.  He vowed never to return.

The cast of characters:

Elliott – A dead man, forever in his 40s, now an angel assigned to greeting new arrivals to the afterlife.  
Gabriel – The Supervisor Angel of an indeterminate age.  He also appears as “Father “G”, the once high school principal of Elloitt’s. 
Patrick – Recently departed having died in a car accident he caused while DUI.  He was in his late sixties at the time of his death.  He has just arrived at the afterlife. 
Marcus – A recently departed 14-year-old boy, suicide victim, also recently arrived at the afterlife. 
Boy – Teenage boy/bully
Babe – Teenage boy’s girlfriend   

﻿I want to read the script!﻿

A successful playwright, Elliott poses this question to his former creative partner and life partner, Josh, a relationship that ended when Josh was diagnosed with HIV.  Several years later, Josh is thriving with a “barely detectable” diagnosis.  After many years of not being in-touch, Elliott reaches out to Josh to collaborate, creatively, in writing a play that poses the question: Which is worse?

No Use In Crying

- An Elliott-like character – also named Elliott – returns.  Snarky, intelligent, stylish, full of himself – and undergoing chemotherapy for Stage 3 cancer.  Caught early, his doctors are optimistic that he will have a full recovery.  But in the process of undergoing intensive chemotherapy, he knows first-hand that the cure might be worse than the disease.  Which gets Elliott thinking:  Which is worse:  Cancer or HIV? 

The cast of characters:

JOSH – A partnered Gay man, middle-aged to pre-retirement age. HIV-positive   
SKYLAR – Josh’s partner for the last six years. About ten years younger than Josh. He tends to be cynical.  
ELLIOTT – Josh’s former life and creative partner. About the same age as Josh. He was recently diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing treatment. Despite all of this, he maintains a quirky sense of humor, is sarcastic, snarky, quick-witted.  
AMPLIFIED VOICE - Only heard projected from backstage. 
NURSE “GOOD JUDI” – “Good Judi,” someone you can rely on and who makes you feel safe and accepted. She is the hospital nurse who assists Elliott when he comes in for his chemo treatments.
EZRA - HIV survivor. Angry at the person who lied about his HIV status and ultimately infected him.
EMMY – Ovarian cancer patient with recurring bouts of cancerous growths. A fighter, matter of fact about her condition and determined to survive despite the odds.     

﻿I want to read the script!﻿

“No Use In Crying” is a theatrical hybrid, a play within a play that introduces multiple characters who have experienced HIV or cancer, first-hand or as a caregiver/medical professional.  Throughout this two-act play, the audience is asked, through dialogue often directed right at them: Which is worse? Giving them plenty of time during the performance, at intermission, and very likely, while lingering over drinks after the show to discuss, debate and maybe decide. 