
Biography
Rich Orloff is the author of 15 award-winning full-length comedies, three comic revues, oodles of short plays (61 of which have been published by Playscripts, Inc. in eight collections), and the documentary-style play Vietnam 101: The War on Campus, which has had over 40 productions at theaters and schools around the country. His two-person comedy Romantic Fools has had 100 productions around the world and has had two productions in Madrid, where apparently they're no better at romance than we are. His comedy Funny as a Crutch was a New York Times Critic's Pick, a Backstage Critic's Pick, and nytheatre.com's Pick of the Week.
Mr. Orloff's short plays have received over 1800 productions on six of the seven continents (and a staged reading in Antarctica) and are particularly popular in schools and community theaters. His short comedies have been published seven times in the annual Best American Short Plays anthology series, three times in the annual Best Ten-Minute Plays series, and in The Art of the One-Act Play, Take Ten II, The Bedford Introduction to Literature and An Anthology of American Short Plays (published in China).
Mr. Orloff's full-length plays also include The Naked Truth ("a rare gem of a comedy" - Show Business Weekly), Big Boys ("rip-roaringly funny" - The New York Times), Someone's Knocking (Back Stage West Critic's Pick) and several others. They've been presented at such theaters as Arizona Theatre Company, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Dayton Playhouse, Florida Studio Theatre, New Jersey Rep, Phoenix Theatre Company, West Coast Ensemble, and three times at the Key West Theatre Festival. His plays have won such awards and contests as the Festival of Emerging American Theatre, the Playwrights First Award, the InterPlay International Play Festival, the Theatre Conspiracy New Play Contest, the Pickering Award for Playwriting Excellence and the Abeles Foundation Playwrights Award.
A popular guest on college campuses, Mr. Orloff has given lectures and workshops on playwriting at New York University, Ohio State University, Oberlin College, Central Washington University, Western Michigan University, and other schools throughout America. He lives in New York City but loves getting out of town. For more about Rich Orloff and his plays, visit www.richorloff.com.
Plays by Rich Orloff
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Actor's Choice: Monologues for Men
- by
- Keith Aisner
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Actor's Choice: Monologues for Women
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Afterglow
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Afternoon Sun
- by
- Rich Orloff
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commens
Awards
Winner, Tennessee Williams Playwriting Competition (Memphis, 1998)
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All That He Can Be
- by
- Rich Orloff
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At the Orgy
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Berlin Promotion
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Bladder Control
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Brazilian Wax Eloquent
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Bride and Gloom
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Bulgarian Rhapsody
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Can This Marriage Be Saved?
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Class Dismissed
- by
- Rich Orloff
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commens
Awards
2nd place, Robert Lehan Playwriting Award (1999)
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Close Call
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Come Light the Menorah
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Couples
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Cripperella
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Dutch Treat
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Eve and Adam: The Untold Story
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Find Me a Primitive Man
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Foreign Affairs
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Funny as a Crutch
- by
- Rich Orloff
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commens
Awards
New York Times Critics Pick (2008)
Back Stage Critics Pick (2008)
nytheatre.com Pick of the Week (2008)
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Good News From Albert
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Great Short Plays: Volume 10
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HA!
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Heart of the Fire
- by
- Rich Orloff
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I Didn't Know You Could Cook (one-act version)
- by
- Rich Orloff
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commens
Awards
Commissioned by the National Theatre Workshop of the Handicapped
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I Didn't Know You Could Cook (ten-minute version)
- by
- Rich Orloff
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I Married a Pope: The Pilot Episode
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Incredible Sex
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Invisible Woman
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Is Lust Kosher?
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Just One of Those Things
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Last-Minute Adjustments
- by
- Rich Orloff
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The Latest News from the Primordial Ooze
- by
- Rich Orloff
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commens
Awards
Audience Favorite, ACME New Play Festival 2013
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Lion Tamer
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Mars Needs Women, But Not As Much As Arnold Schecter
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Matterhorn
- by
- Rich Orloff
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commens
Awards
Winner - Palm Springs National Short Play Festival Audience Favorite (2005)
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Murray, Leo and Sol Rewrite the Criminal Code
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Nellie
- by
- Rich Orloff
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The New Land
- by
- Rich Orloff
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The News from St. Petersburg
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Nice Tie
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Nightmare with a Sexy Skirt
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Nothing Serious
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Oedi
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Off the Map
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Oh Happy Day
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Oh My God, It's Another Play
- by
- Rich Orloff
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One Man's Secret Desire
- by
- Rich Orloff
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OY!
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Oy (part of the full-length play OY!)
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Playwriting 101: The Rooftop Lesson
- by
- Rich Orloff
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commens
Awards
Best of the Delaware Short Play Festival (2002)
Five and Dime Playwriting Contest, Kansas City (2002)
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Position Available
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Power Is the Greatest Aphrodisiac of Them All
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Prague Summer
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Right Sensation
- by
- Rich Orloff
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commens
Awards
2nd place, Kernodle New Play Competition (2002)
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Romantic Fools
- by
- Rich Orloff
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The Sheep (or Much Ado About Mutton)
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Spaghetti Overture
- by
- Rich Orloff
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The Stepford Guy
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Stevie Goldstein Faces the Day of Atonement Unprepared
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Toes
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Totally Accessible
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Triumph in Argentina
- by
- Rich Orloff
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A Trolley Named Tsuris
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Vegetarians in Lust
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Vietnam 101: The War on Campus
- by
- Rich Orloff
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The Wedding Planner
- by
- Rich Orloff
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What Makes a Man?
- by
- Rich Orloff
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The Whole Shebang
- by
- Rich Orloff
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commens
Awards
Alexandria National One-Act Play Contest, 1988
Sears Ontario Drama Festival Award, 1994
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Women in Heat
- by
- Rich Orloff
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Word Play
- by
- Rich Orloff