Unexpected Tenderness

by Israel Horovitz

Drama 4 male, 3 female Interior Set This poignant drama about a dysfunctional Jewish family in Massachusetts is structured as a memory play. Roddy Stern recalls what it was like growing up in a family dominated by his paranoid and pathologically jealous father, a truck driver who lurked outside his house instead of working to catch his wife with other men. A long suffering and abused saint, Roddy's mother raised two children in this difficult environment. Roddy's

Genres: Plays

108 pages, Paperback

First published November 24, 2010

About the author

Israel Horovitz has written more than 80 plays, several of which have been translated into as many as 30 languages and performed worldwide. His play Line reached 50 years of continuous performance, off-Broadway, at 13th Street Repertory Theatre.

Horovitz is Founding Artistic Director of Gloucester Stage Company, and of the New York Playwrights Lab. For two decades, he taught a bilingual screenwriting workshop with writers from la Fémis, France’s national film school, and Columbia University’s graduate film program. Has also written or adapted numerous plays for BBC Radio. (Click on link for listing and description of plays.)

He is married to Gillian Adams-Horovitz, former British National Marathon Champion and Record holder, and former USA Track & Field (Masters) Marathon Champion. The Horovitz family divides its time among homes in Gloucester, Massachusetts, NYC’s Greenwich Village, and London’s Dulwich Village. Mr. Horovitz visits France, frequently, where he often directs French-language productions of his plays. He is the most-produced American playwright in French theatre history.

Reviews

[Ryan Crim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unexpected tenderness is a classic story that demonstrates the simplicity of falling into a cycle of generational behavior. In this touching tale a young boy relives the abuse his father trust upon him, his mother, sister, and others in countless instances of distrust. As the story unfolds we see that the abusive behavior is a trait passed on by the fathers in the family. We see how the cycle of abuse can blind ones reasoning, we see how forgiveness can come so easily to the abused, and just how important it is to break the cycle. Kudos to the author of unexpected tenderness. The script is a beautiful compilation of emotion and real life reasoning when out into certain scenarios. I love this script because it puts perspective into unimaginable instances and because it brings a subtle uplift to the downpour, this is note worthy because it puts an intricate and beautiful spin to the whole story. I applaud this piece of work and it is undoubtedly one of the best pieces of theatre I have ever payed my hands on. Bravo.