Janice Goldberg

Director/Playwright

Biographical Statement

Ms. Goldberg has directed over 50 new plays in New York and regionally. She recently directed ROSE COLORED GLASS which she co-wrote with Susan Bigelow. It premiered Off Broadway and is published by Samuel French, Inc. ROSE COLORED GLASS has been a finalist for the USTheaterwest Competition and the Dorothy Silver Playwriting Award and was read with Frances Sternhagen at Manhattan Theatre Club. It is an ensemble tour de force for three women, aged 15 – 60. Its audience though, is anyone, any religion, aged 10 and up. In New York, it fostered deep discussions after every performance.

AND DRANK THE MOON also by the Goldberg/Bigelow team, was directed by Ms. Goldberg in Northern California. It examines and celebrates the spirit of the garment workers at the turn of the 20th century and is recommended for ages 12 and up. Other selected directing credits by Ms. Goldberg include the critically acclaimed New York revival of LONE STAR & LAUNDRY AND BOURBON (Bridge Theatre Company) with original music by Wes Hightower, THE GATHERING ROOM at the New York International Fringe Festival (winner Best Overall Actor); BINDLESTIFF’S DANCE HALL, in Northern California, commissioned for the National Eco-Drama Festival and featured in American Theater Magazine; the Canadian premier of Richard Strand’s THE MEDIAN STRIP (Centaur) in Montreal, and for NBC, the national showcase for the Native American Talent Search. At the Turnip Festival in New York, Janice won awards for Best Direction for the last two years.

Janice has co-authored five other plays with Susan Bigelow and has directed each in CA and regionally, as well as AUTUMN RUN for CAP21’s Blackjacks Festival. She is a respondent for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival and the SSDC Representative for Region II and Region IV. She is the recipient of a Pilgrim Project Grant, a Writer/Director Residency at the Dorset Writers' Colony, VT, and has been honored for her work at NYU. She has been a guest instructor/director at Johns Hopkins, Humboldt State, College of the Redwoods, Tisch School of the Arts, NYU and CAP21, NYU.

She serves as Artistic Co-Director of Artistic New Directions in NYC and is a member of SSDC, The Dramatist’s Guild, The First Look Theatre Company at NYU, Circle East. Janice holds degrees from the University of Maryland and Salisbury State University. She studied under the legendary Leland Starnes from Yale University. She also conducts workshops in acting and directing for college students.

Play Roster

Rose Colored Glass
Set in 1938 Chicago, this compelling, heartwarming, cross-generational story, takes place in the back rooms of Lady O’Riley’s Pub and Rose Fleishman’s Delicatessen. Their disparate worlds, separated by much more than the alley between their kitchens, are about to collide. Peg O’Riley, the 13-year-old granddaughter of Lady, has grown determined that these two stubborn, feisty, mistrustful widows will become friends, but it is not until they become involved in the same cause that their friendship has a chance to bloom. In a series of stunning flashbacks, Peg, now older, remembers the moving story of how Lady and Rose formed a united front to fight American apathy in an attempt to bring Rose’s nephew out of Europe before the war.

"...highly dramatic tale of friendship and salvation, religions and cultures collide to form one human bond against pervasive injustice. Rose Colored Glass operates on a high level of dramatic tension throughout."
- Backstage, NY

"...unlike any other Holocaust piece in that it makes you a witness; ...accountable for your beliefs and actions." - The Times Standard

"...displays warmth and wit ..."- The Humboldt Beacon


AND DRANK THE MOON
This insightful script examines and celebrates the spirit of the garment workers at the turn of the 20th century. Anna Levy, the widowed owner of a dress factory, insists on becoming involved in its day to day operations, much to the consternation of her cool, calculating brother-in-law, Martin. He is much more concerned with his profits than the well being of his workers. Enter Eli Rudin, a disgruntled Jewish immigrant, who believes that unionizing is the only way to improve workers’ safety and also increase their wages and quality of life. Theresa, an Italian immigrant seamstress, shares his vision and ultimately his love. Patrick McBride, the shop steward has risen from within the ranks to a place of authority and is caught between the two camps. Tensions escalate until they explode, literally and figuratively.

"...a taut, honest, lyrical look at the emotional and physical challenges of factory workers and management in the early 1900's..."
- The Times Standard


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