Leda Siskind
Playwright
About
Plays
PRODUCED
I only began writing plays about six years ago and it is the hardest pleasurable work I’ve ever done. My experience as an actress informs my writing; I am sensitive to the rhythms of speech, of silences that must be heard, of the emotional undertow that flows through and pulls at my characters.
I am aware that the audience wants to discover what, in the end, they felt all along, but now know in a new way.
I know the world I create must make sense within itself so
that it is as inviting as it may be unpredictable.
All My Distances Are Far (60 minutes)
Based on true accounts, ‘Distances’ follows a group of teens as they share their struggles and dreams with a high school therapist. Each student addresses the audience as if they are in session so that both we and the new counselor witness the joys, heartbreaks, and realizations experienced throughout the school year.
Published by Stage Rights
The Liar's Punishment (60 minutes)
Elbee, a homeless woman in Los Angeles, is confronted by Gwen, a well-meaning social worker, to pack up her tent and move into subsidized housing. Elbee’s refusal prompts Gwen to explore Elbee’s past – and leads to a discovery that changes both their lives.
Fern and Cliff (10 minutes)
Cliff meets his birth mother, Fern, for the first time
at a prearranged meeting in a coffee shop.
Cliff assumes he was rejected by Fern, while she assumes Cliff has had a better life without her.
Their presumptions are shattered when they both realize that some connections are, indeed, inherent.
‘Surveillance’ depicts how American citizens have suffered from internal spying from the Red-baiting, homophobic 1950’s, through our injured embassy
staff in Havana in 2017, up to how our own personal
A.I.’s can be used as moles against us today.
Published by Stage Rights
Plays
IN THE WORKS
Snowman (10 minutes)
Four Norwegians meet in a snowy forest in the
1800’s, baffled by the return of a mysterious snowman who magically provides sexual ecstasy to all who
come close to it.
Published by Smith and Kraus in the ‘Best 10 Minute Plays of 2023’
Out of An Abundance of Caution (10 minutes)
A blind date during the early days of COVID requires the sterile environment of an operating room, a fishbowl over one’s head, and an actual heart of gold to signal that love – along with the virus – is in the air.
Published by Flowersong Press in their ‘COVID Short Plays Anthology’
Vacuum (50 minutes)
A modern retelling of Oedipus as a white
supremacist working in a vacuum repair shop.
Based on both the Greek play and the actual
botched plans of a militia group.
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No Name For Me (60 minutes)
Ethel Rosenberg, the convicted spy, recounts
her life via agit-prop theatre, vaudeville, and Kabuki on the last day of her life, revealing how misogamy, antisemitism, and family feuds have led her to the electric chair.
All I Know (45 minutes)
The story of the naval officer who spoke out against the Argentine junta’s torture and murder of its own citizens is told – until one actor stops the production and accuses the playwright of betrayal and compliance with the very junta she has written against.
Sunrise Does Not Mean The Dawn/ Byte Not Bike
Follow the adventures of a rock band in 1973 as a washer explodes, secrets are revealed, and the group implodes…into awesomeness.
Praise and Reviews
Surveillance
“Whether playfully or poignantly rendered, Siskind’s characters share
a pervasive and justifiable paranoia…most fascinating…is her rigorously
fact-based account of the Havana Syndrome…comically intrusive.”
- The Los Angeles Times
“Surveillance confirms that Big Brother has always been watching us…Kudos!”
- Broadway World
“A challenging and provocative night
of theater.”
- Total Theatre
All My Distances Are Far
“An emotionally engaging evening
that is certainly heartfelt.”
- The Los Angeles Times
Snowman
“A sex comedy with a taste for Strindberg on the side for stylized saltiness… ‘Do you want to build a snowman?’ is now ringing in my ears.”
- Stage It! Center For The Arts, Bonita Springs, FL
Fern and Cliff
“Lovely play!”
- Valerie Adami, Director, Break A Leg Theatre, NYC
All I Know
“It is a truly noteworthy script.”
- Trent Sutton, Euphonies New Works Festival
Contact
Phone
323.363.9646