CLAUDE SOLNIK
PLAYWRIGHT
As playwright in residence at Theater for the New City, Claude Solnik has written plays seen by thousands, earned favorable reviews and brought memorable characters and stories to life. His work also has been performed Off Broadway, in Paris, Philadelphia and on regional stages.
“Be prepared for the ride of your life”
Broadway World
“lyrical enough to be worthy of the master”
Newsday
“well-researched and imaginatively conceived”
TheatreScene.net
“the wingless beauty of birds of paradise”
Broadway World
“looking beneath the surface and finding beauty, pain, longing and dreams.”
Long Island Herald
“A play that is keenly aware of how much we of the twenty-first century need to be thinking about women’s long fight for freedom in America right now... I was still with Victoria Woodhull.”
Theatre is Easy
"Playwright Claude Solnik and director Joe John Battista’s collaboration, A Life in the Rye was a highly theatrical, well-written and grandly performed biographical fantasia of the life of J.D. Salinger with his younger self as a prominent character."
Theatrescene.net
"It combines the diversity of New York life with the fundamentals of being human and how any one of us could wind up in this situation next."
Broadway World
“finely wrought new play… a Kennedy story you haven’t heard”
The Chronicle
“Life In The Rye at Theater For The New City dazzles."
LocaltheaterUSA
“much to appreciate. The mingling of fact and fiction is generally credible.”
Talkin' Broadway
"Playwright Claude Solnik now harnesses the tragic beauty of this man's life in his new play A Life In the Rye, rebirthing a story that exquisitely brings together real life, literary creation, lost love and the effects of war."
Broadway World
HISTORICAL PLAYS
As the playwright in residence at Theater for the new City, Claude Solnik has had numerous plays presented to critical and audience acclaim.
A LIFE IN THE RYE
Rated among the top 10 plays of the year by TheaterScene.Net, A Life in the Rye tells the story of J.D Salinger. Broadway World also ranked it as a stand-out play and production. “Playwright Claude Solnik now harnesses the tragic beauty of this man's life in his new play A Life In the Rye, rebirthing a story that exquisitely brings together real life, literary creation, lost love and the effects of war - all within two captivating hours.”
BIRDS OF PARADISE
Birds of Paradise won praise for its "wingless beauty," telling the story of a family during the Great Depression. Full houses got to see this timeless story about how a family struggled to survive while the world collapsed around them.
A WALK ON THE BEACH
Described as a "Kennedy story you haven't seen," this script won raves as a "finely wrought" play. In this script, based on a true story, a sculpture designs a work showing JFK and his son both as adults. It leads to controversy over whether he's sacrificing reality for fantasy in a debate that tears the town apart.
HISTORICAL PLAYS
History includes the official record and the daily record of the news. Here are stories ranging from more than a century ago to recent events.
VICTORIA WOODHULL
Victoria Claflin Woodhull ran for president in 1872 - before women had the right to vote. She realized that while it was illegal to vote, there was no law against running - so she did. What followed was a wild journey that is too infrequently told. This play captures her courage - and the conflict that ensued.
NOWHERE MAN
The "Paul is dead" myth once circulated, when rumors started that Paul McCartney had been replaced by a double. Nowhere Man looks at what it might have been like if the band reached out to someone to be Paul's double.
THE LADY FROM LIMERICK
A plastic surgeon facing problems in the United States recruits patients from Ireland. When a woman travels to New York, she runs up against the reality of tragic results.
INSPIRED BY TRUE STORIES
Journalism is said to be the best truth at the moment. Theater can let us dig even deeper and find a deeper truth. Here are several scripts inspired by true events, whether those in the news or in individuals' lives.
THE CARETAKER OF COROFIN
Inspired by a true story, Caretaker follows an American woman to Ireland where she finds herself a suspect in a murder. A profile of what it's like to be an American abroad - as well as of a small Irish town.
THE FARE
A fight between a cabbie and a passenger changes both of their lives. Although it looks like one thing happened, soon it becomes clear that there are doubts. Who was the aggressor and who was the victim or were they both?
PEDRO CASTILLO IS INNOCENT
Inspired by the story of Fernando Bermudez, this play tells the story of an innocent man in prison - and how he and his family navigate through this untenable, gut-wrenching situation.
COUPLES
Relationships are at the core of theater. These plays look at very different relationships, from married couples to first dates to relationships in the workplace.
GRACE IS GOOD
Co-workers see that a new hire is spending a lot of time with the boss. They decide to find out what if anything is going on, leading to a #metoo story with a twist.
BUTTERFLY HOUR
A soldier returns from war determined to make up for lost time - and make some money. He gets a job at a company installing alarms, realizing that he's close to cash. When he finds out about someone who has one of Jimi Hendrix's guitars, he has to decide whether to move on - or move in.
THE FALLS
A couple meet in a bar for a one-night stand - and then decide to see if there's a way to make the night never end. Why do people only head off to Niagara Falls when they get married? They start their trip north, discovering each other and themselves along the way.
LITERARY WORKS
Claude Solnik's plays sometimes adapt literature, or literary lives, for the stage. His adaptation of Anton Chekhov's The Kiss gives audiences a chance to see Chekhov come to life on stage, Year of the Iguana tells the story of Tennessee Williams and his sister and Sandcastles takes what looks like a realistic story - and uses magic realism to transform it.
THE KISS
This adaptation of Anton Chekhov's short story The Kiss tells a sprawling story of love and war. A soldier falls in love on his way to battle after kissing a woman in the dark, only to spend the war dreaming of who she is - and finally doing what he can to meet her.
SAND CASTLES
A couple and their son arrive at a beautiful, tropical hotel on an island for the last vacation before he heads off for college. The trip turns into something more than a break from the routine when the woman meets someone on the beach who turns out to be very different from what he appears.
YEAR OF THE IGUANA
His name is Tennessee or at least that's the name he's known by, but he lived much of his life in New Orleans. Year of the Iguana chronicles Tennessee Williams and his family's life, focusing on him and his sister, who inspired many of his greatest characters.
PARENTS AND CHILDREN
Being a parent or a son or daughter or both is a key relationship. And it's one that has its share of comedy, drama and tragedy. These plays look at how parents and children help - and now and then hinder - each other with dramatic and sometimes commic consequences.
THE BOHEMIANS
When a couple moves into an apartment in a New York City neighborhood with high crime stats, the parents decide to scare them into moving. They create a four-person crime spree that shows it's possible to be too protective.
LEMON TREE
In this love story later in life, a man and woman find each other, but the snake is already inside Eden. They make memories, but can't avoid the fact that time is taking its toll.
PERFECT NIGHT FOR THE PROM
A boy and girl who meet at the prom soon find they've changed their and their family's lives.
SOME POSTERS
These are a few posters from productions, part of the marketing of the shows.
A WALK ON THE BEACH
VICTORIA WOODHULL
PEDRO CASTILLO
ONE ACT ANTHOLOGIES
One acts allow actors, audiences and authors to journey into worlds briefly. In addition to numerous one acts, Claude Solnik has written one act collections around themes, such as the Beatles and travel.
IMAGINE
From an elegy for Eleanor Rigby to a meeting in Strawberry Fields, Imagine is a series of one acts inspired by Beatles songs.
AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHT PLAYS
A series of one acts set around the world lets audiences travel the globe, without leaving their seat. From beautiful islands to the big city, audiences get a lot of theater for one ticket.
NEW WORK AND VIDEOS DURING PANDEMIC
While theater performance was largely put on pause during the pandemic, that didn't mean that writing or creativity was suspended. Theater for the New City presented a live performance of The Statement, about what happens when a local theater group (meeting on Zoom) with a fairly diverse board crafts a very poorly worded "statement" regarding George Floyd's death. In addition to live performances, below are numerous full-length plays written and recordings made during the pandemic. These range from a script about the explosive William F. Buckley Jr./Gore Vidal debates of 1968 to a pandemic love story set on two New York City rooftops, a World War II play about the family of a Jewish child who wins a contest to find the perfect Aryan baby and a satire about a man accused of voting while dead. There is also a video of a show about an office where a co-worker took part in the insurrection, and another about a family filled with secrets ranging from the parents' affairs to the daughter's love for another woman. That's in addition to numerous one acts, teleplays and screenplays. The pandemic has been a difficult time, but it also could be one rife with creativity.
All Videos
All Videos
Basketball in the rain
insurrection - a play
Dark Day in Dallas
Fun and Games - a new full-length play
MORE ABOUT CLAUDE SOLNIK
Claude Solnik is an award-winning playwright and journalist whose work has been presented at Theater for the New City and regionally. As a journalist, his work has appeared in The New York Times, Daily News, Newsday and numerous other publications, winning state-wide awards from The New York Press Association and Associated Press. His work as a playwright often combines history, or is inspired by true stories, whether from a century ago or today. His play "A Life in the Rye" was named among the top ten plays of the year by TheatreScene.Net. BroadwayWorld said it "dazzles." “Playwright Claude Solnik now harnesses the tragic beauty of this man's life in his new play A Life In the Rye, rebirthing a story that exquisitely brings together real life, literary creation, lost love and the effects of war," Broadway World's reviewer wrote. "Birds of Paradise" similarly was greeted with rhapsodic reviews along with numerous other plays. In addition to writing drama, he has written comedies, as well as comedy for well-known comedians. He is a graduate of New York University's master's program in writing for theater and television, where he studied with authors who went on to write "The Hunger Games" as well as serving as head writer for "Sex and the City" and writing on the staff of "The Simpsons" and other shows. He finished second in a prestigious screenplay competition and has written teleplays (pilots and subsequent episodes) and screenplays. He is playwright in residence at Theater for the New City.
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Hard Work Pays Off
PLAYWRIGHT IN RESIDENCE
CURRENT
Claude Solnik was named a playwright in residence at Theater for the New City, in recognition of the quality and consistency of his work.
TOP TEN PLAYS OF THE YEAR
2019
"Playwright Claude Solnik and director Joe John Battista’s collaboration, A Life in the Rye was a highly theatrical, well-written and grandly performed biographical fantasia of the life of J.D. Salinger with his younger self as a prominent character."
ONE ACT AWARDS
Various
Claude Solnik's one acts have won various awards for comedy and drama.