Photo by Thilo Beu

"One of the most unorthodox, fast-paced, tangent-jumping and funny plays I have seen." - New York Amsterdam News. Read the review.

"The most Pirandellian theatrical experience currently available to New York theatergoers." - Curtain Up. Read the review.

"The finest American play of the last half century" - I swear to God that's what it says. Read the review and see for yourself.

Photo by Chris Drew

The Gold Standard Text by Ed Schmidt, music by Jed Distler. Cornelia Street Cafe (2006) Directed by Arnold Barkus   "An amusing clown act." - Anne Midgette, New York Times       The Shuffle of Things A never-quite-finished monologue, based on the life of Francis Bacon. (Not really.) Cornelia Street Cafe (2005) Watch an excerpt  here. The Walter Winchell Show Workshop production starring Jonathan Hadary, produced by Jeffrey Richards.  The Kennedy Center (1999) Directed by Ethan McSweeney   Cost of Living Feature film starring Edie Falco (1997) Screenplay by Ed Schmidt and Steven Schmidt, directed by Stan Schofield. American Film Institute Festival Studio Prize American Film Institute Festival Best Actress Award - Edie Falco Cinequest San Jose Film Festival Maverick Spirit Award (nomination) Available on DVD 34 Scenes in the Life of Morton V. A perfect twenty-minute play. Honestly. West Bank Cafe (1993) Directed by Earl Hagen     I'll Dance at Your Wedding The lead actor had a heart attack during previews. The play never opened.   Belmont Italian-American Playhouse (1992) Directed by Alex Simmons   A Love Story Short film (1988) Directed by Stephen Wertimer and Steven Schmidt Chicago Film Festival - Special Jury Prize The Two-Headed Man A one-act play about a bearded lady.  West Bank Cafe (1987) Directed by Jeff Zinn     A Bedtime Story A violent but charming children's play Camp Dudley (1985) Directed, rather hamfistedly, by the playwright.   Home, Sweet Home A promotional play, based on Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House on the Prairie" series. Published by HarperCollins.     Paradox Falls Unproduced, but, goddamn it, not for lack of trying. During rehearsals for MR. RICKEY CALLS A MEETING at the Old Globe in 1991, Jack O'Brien told me, "Whatever you write next, we'll produce." So I went home and wrote PARADOX FALLS, a 43-character play about a small town in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. Needless to say, Jack changed his mind. After the completed play had sat unopened for several years on my agent's shelf, I wrote to tell him that "The fact that 'Paradox Falls' has not been produced is the biggest disappointment of my professional life." I also offered my opinion that "'Paradox Falls' is as good as any American play written in the last forty years." Which only proves that I'm an idiot. But I am prouder of "Paradox Falls" than I am of anything I've ever written, with the possible exception of "The Last Supper." The Quack and the Hypochondriac Unproduced translation/adaptation of Moliere's "Le medecin malgre lui" and "La malade imaginaire"   Haymarket Unproduced screenplay, based on the Chicago Haymarket riots of 1886. After completing HAYMARKET, it took my New York agent three months to read the script. He sent it to the agency's L.A. office. Nine months later, my L.A. agent's only comment was, "It's too long." At which point, I slipped my head through the noose.     The Black Watch Unproduced, but, I'll be honest, deservedly so.