Summer With Dianne by Seth Zvi Rosenfeld

Youth Ensemble Theater plans to produce the world premiere of SUMMER WITH DIANNE, a new play by Seth Zvi Rosenfeld, directed by Brian Roff in September of 2025 at the Public Theater. A grant from the Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation would make this production possible by helping fund a theater rental in downtown New York City. We will credit the Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation with appropriate billing in all programs. 

SUMMER WITH DIANNE is the story of Sonny Halfon, a fifteen year old ne’er do well from the Bronx, who finds his summer plans upended when Joey, an older brother figure, abruptly disappears, leaving him no choice but to crash with Joey’s girlfriend until his parents return. Set against the backdrop of 1970s Brooklyn, Summer with Dianne is a unorthodox comic love story that explores freedom, its ecstasy and agony, and ultimately, its cost. SUMMER WITH DIANNE was developed as part of the Labyrinth Theater Company's annual Barn Series. Please find a copy of the play attached to this application.

Youth Ensemble Theater’s mission is to serve diverse groups of young people and adults with expansive, potent, and vital experiences in the arts. We believe that SUMMER WITH DIANNE will bring together traditional theater goers with young and diverse New Yorkers who do not naturally look to theater for art and entertainment, many of whom have never set foot in an off-Broadway theater. The play raises challenging and socially-relevant questions that can best be approached in the disbelief-suspending world of the theater. 

BIOS
Youth Ensemble Theater Inc. (FKA High Mountain Arts Inc.): Founded in 2005, the mission of YET is to serve diverse groups of young people and adults with expansive, potent and vital experiences in the arts. YET has garnered awards from NYC Thespian Society (Best Play/Best supporting actress, 2019), NYS Theatre Education Association (Award of Excellence 2019),  American Academy for the Dramatic Arts (Featured performance/Youth Theatre Conference 2018) among others.  Y.E.T. plays have performed Off-Broadway at the 52nd Street Project and the Labyrinth Theater company’s Bank Street Theater (NYC), The Richard B. Fisher Performing Arts Center (Bard College), NY State & Film/Powerhouse Theater Festival (Poughkeepsie, NY), Boughton Place (Highland, NY), Byrdcliffe Theater (Woodstock, NY), and High Meadow Performing Arts Center (Stone Ridge, NY).

Seth Zvi Rosenfeld is New York-born playwright, TV writer, and filmmaker. While he’s written and produced on a handful of beloved TV shows, including The Get Down and How to Make it in America, and directed a number of films including the John Leguizamo-fronted King of the Jungle, his career as a writer began in the theater. His first full-length work, The Writing on the Wall, was one of the first plays to depict New York’s graffiti and hip-hop cultures, and was bought by New Line Cinemas in 1990. His plays include Servy-n-Bernice 4Ever; A Brother’s Kiss (INTAR); La Familia, PS: I’m glad you sent your hair (both with Naked Angels); The Flatted Fifth, Everything’s Turning Into Beautiful, and Downtown Race Riot (all with The New Group).

Brian Roff is a director and producer who specializes in the development of new plays. Directing credits include Dirty Laundry by Mathilde Dratwa (Audible), Milk & Gall by Mathilde Dratwa with Zoe Kazan (LAByrinth Theater Company), Frank Amends by Halley Feiffer (New Ohio Theater), The Puppetmaster of Lodz by Gilles Segal (Berkshire Theatre Group), and Dutch Masters by Greg Keller (Berkshire Theatre Group & LAByrinth). He was assistant director to Philip Seymour Hoffman on The Little Flower of East Orange (Public Theater), The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Public Theater), and Our Lady of 121st Street (Union Square Theatre), all by Stephen Adly Guirgis. He is a member of LAByrinth Theater Company.