Welcome to:
The Doniger Web
Come explore the creative work of Paul E. Doniger
Playwright - Actor - Director - Composer - Musician
About
A retired theatre and English teacher, and a playwright, actor, director, composer, and musician, I am also a founding member of the Classic Stage Company (formerly known as CSC Repertory Theatre) in New York City, where I trained as a classical actor and director. At CSC, I served as a leading actor, Music Director, and Board of Directors member from 1968 through the mid-1970s, playing numerous leading and supporting roles. After leaving CSC, I worked in theatre, film, and television in the New York City area before moving to Connecticut in 1979.
I earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music, where my professors included playwright Romulus Linney.
Later, I served as an adjunct English professor at Western Connecticut State University, from where I hold a Master of Arts in English.
Over the years, I have published articles and reviews in ATEG Journal , English Journal, and Guitar Review and am a contributing author for Grammar Alive: A Guide for Teachers (November 2003).
During the early 2000s, I served on the State of Connecticut Board of Education’s committee for creating theatre teacher certification guidelines in the state.
Locally, you may have seen me on stage: as Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night at Shakespeare Ventures (2006) in Fairfield, CT, as Prospero in The Tempest (2008) at The Town Players in Newtown, CT, or perhaps in a series of play reading at Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury (“Turn Up The Volume”) and staged readings of These Shining Lives, The Merchant of Venice, and Stars and Bars at The Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, CT. I’m a member of The Working Actor’s Collective (Ed Wierzbicki, Artistic Director) in Western Connecticut.
In 2007, my Commedia dell’Arte play, Masks, was performed by my students at Pomperaug High School. Masks is published by YouthPlays.com.
In November of 2011, my play Cassandra was given its first five performance, again by my students at PHS.
In the spring of 2016, my political satire, Ubu, The Conqueror, was produced at Pomperaug High School. That year, it was nominated for 12 Halo Awards, eventually taking home 3 wins.
I also have written two one-act plays: What The Dickens! was premiered in March of 2018 at the 82nd Annual CDA Festival, where it won the Tom Stoppard Award, and Passive Resistance, a drama written in the form of a living newspaper, was presented at the 2019 CDA Festival.
I am presently a member of the Playwriting Workshop at Theatre Works, New Milford.
The Background
Services
Theatrical
Paul E. Doniger rehearsing Dr. Korczack's Example.
My Plays
Select and read one of my full length, one-act, or 10-minute plays for production. Many of my plays are particularly suited for production in an educational theatre setting: high school, college, or university.
Paul E. Doniger as The Herald in Peter Weiss's Marat/Sade - a few decades ago!
Playwright on Commission
I am available for and open to commissions to write plays specifically for your theatre. Please contact me if you are interested.
PLAYS:
These are some of the theatre pieces I have written:
Echo/Memory
Characters[1]:
FRITZ KUHN, (male) a prisoner in Munich - early 50s - looks older
JOSEPH, (male) a prison guard - mid-twenties
ECHO,(male) KUHN's alter ego
MEMORY,(female) represents KUHN's memories
Setting:
A prison in Munich Germany, early in 1949. The memory scenes change to various other times and places as indicated in the text.
Synopsis:
While a prisoner in a Munich jail, the egotistical Fritz Kuhn is haunted by his own alter ego and memories of his past attempts to establish a Nazi-style government in America during the 1930s, reliving events in his imagination. The specific failure of his trying to establish a Nazi youth camp in the small town of Southbury, Connecticut in 1937 preoccupies his mind as he tries to indoctrinate the young prison guard to his cause.
[1] NOTE: This play employs 4 actors. Of these, only one remains a single character throughout, FRITZ KUHN. The others become many characters during the memory sequences. MEMORY, in particular, becomes both female and male characters. Projected images or films could be used to assist the audience. For example, films of the 1939 Madison Square Garden rally(act 2) may be effective.
MASKS
A Play in Two Acts
Masks, which is published by YouthPlays.com is a two act play about a company of Commedia performers. It includes both scenes of the backstage lives of its members and performances of Italian Commedia dell’Arte in front of an onstage “audience.”
Masks received its first production in a high school theatre, but it is very well suited to college and regional theatres and lends itself easily to either a traditional proscenium stage or a smaller thrust or black box.
It is a unit set play and can be staged with modest means. No complex lighting or sound effects are needed. The challenges for the actors include physical comedy skills; an ability to play characters that are both period and modern characters; and the ability to play actors who are sometimes themselves and sometimes their Commedia stereotypes.
Please visit the YouthPlays.com website to peruse the script and arrange for production rights. I hope you will consider mounting a production of Masks
Cassandra
A Tragedy in 2 Acts
Cassandra, daughter of King Priam of Troy, has visions of the future that not only foretell the destruction of Troy and most of her family, but also of her own forced marriage to King Agamemnon and her death at the hands of Agamemnon’s first wife, Clytemnestra. She moves in and out of her visions, trying to convince others of their validity; failing to do so, she uses her visionary gift to take revenge on Agamemnon, who has destroyed her family, her future, and her hopes.
Ubu, The Conqueror
A Satire in Two Acts:
(if you think this government is crazy, ... !)
Ubu, The Conqueror is a futuristic rethinking of Alfred Jarry’s three early absurdist Ubu plays of the late 19th century.
The year is 3016, The incompetent and gluttonous Ubu has been "elected" President of The Western Hemisphere. However, First Lady Ubu thinks he should take over the whole world. With the help of his staff of bumbling cronies, he gives it a try. Will Ubu conquer Eurasia and Austrafika? Read the whole play to find out!
Click the link below to read the opening scenes of the play.
What The Dickens!
A Fantasy Play in One Act
15 year-old Charles Dickens is troubled by writers block, so he decides to give up his dream of becoming a writer in order to focus on finding a practical source of income. His school friend and his sister both have difficulty trying to help him; however, he is visited by the spirits of Shakespeare and three other literati, who introduce him to some characters from the novels that he might one day write. The yet un-created characters plead with him for a chance to exist. Will they succeed in their quest for survival and keep Charles from giving up his dreams?
Running time = 45 minutes
Passive Resistance
A Living Newspaper in One Act
Written in the form of a living newspaper, this one-act play combines a documented history of the resistance of the German swing youth (swingjugend) during the 1930s and 40s with a dramatization of their resistance movement. Historical events are related by four speakers, using news media, letters, speeches, and other documents, and are interspersed with scenes of a fictional story of a small group of friends who resist the rise of National Socialism by listening to American swing music.
Cast = 7 males and 7 females
Running time = 40 minutes
Photos
From The Plays of Paul E. Doniger
Upcoming Events
10-minute play festival
My 10-minute play, Prom Date, has been accepted by TheatreWorks, New Milford, CT for inclusion in their 2nd annual 10-minute play festival in 2020 (unfortunately, however, the event has been postponed due to Covid-19). Stay tuned for updates!
Contact
If you are interested in considering one of my plays for production or discussing a possible commission, please send me your contact information with a brief description of your particular interest.
Thank you.