About the Project

In 2002, Suzan Lori-Parks, one of the finest playwrights alive, decided to write a new play every day for one year. The 365 Days/365 Plays Cycle is a staggering tribute to her relentless intellect and inventiveness.

I am not Suzan Lori-Parks, but I am a playwright who admires her artistry and gumption, and I have long wanted to attempt a similar project.

In the Jewish tradition, there are 613 mitzvot, or commandments, that govern every aspect of our lives. I am by no means a particularly devout Jew and do not follow most of these rules. But Judaism is all about wrestling with ideas, and I want to wrestle with these particular ideas.

So, in December 2024, I set a challenge for myself: write 100 plays responding to the first 100 mitzvot as written down by Rabbi Maimonides.

This blog is a documentation of the project as it unfolds.

The Rules

1. I will write one play a day for 100 days, starting on January 20, 2025.
   1. I will not write on Saturdays, in observation of Shabbat.
2. Each play will respond to the first 100 mitzvot, as Rabbi Maimonides wrote down and organized them in his 12th-century opus, Mishnah Torah (you can view his complete list here).
3. I will go through Maimonides's list sequentially. No skipping around.
4. The plays may address the day's mitzvot explicitly or obliquely. Whatever plot/form/character/idea emerges is acceptable.
5. There are no formal restrictions. If I consider it a "play," it counts.
6. I will not spend more than 1 hour writing each play.
7. No play will be longer than 10 pages; most should be under 5.
8. Each play will be published to this blog no later than 24 hours after I write it (so I may not publish the February 1 play until February 2). This will give me some time to reflect and edit before sharing.
   1. If I write the play on a Friday, I may not publish it until Sunday, in observation of Shabbat.
9. After writing the first 100 plays, I will take a month-long pause. I hope to then resume until I have written 613 plays. But life is complicated, and this is not my full-time job, so I want to be realistic in my aspirations.