Biography
Carolyn Boriss-Krimsky is a playwright, visual artist, arts writer and award-winning co-author of Yoko Ono: Collector of Skies. At New York University, she worked with innovators like printmaker Robert Blackburn, artist/architect James Wines and painter Mercedes Matter, who founded the New York Studio School in Greenwich Village. Exploring multi-media throughout her life, Boriss-Krimsky sees playwriting as a collaborative extension of visual art, using words instead of paint. She’s a member of the Playwright/Directors Unit at The Actors Studio, NYC, HB Studio Playwrights Forum, NYC, and Write On in Boston. Her plays explore art, love, loss, obsession, and the search for wholeness.
Selected Productions
Call Me, Gallery Players, directed by Whitney Stone, NYC, 2022
Fractals, Smartphone Theatre, directed by Todd Felderstein, dramaturg, Peter Flood, CA, 2020
Flying, HB Playwrights Theatre, The Central Park Plays, directed by Eli Thacker Taylor, NYC, 2015
Perfectly Safe, HB Playwrights Theatre, The Office Plays, directed by Peter Zinn, NYC, 2014
Numbers, (ten-minute) HB Playwrights Theatre, The Kitchen Plays, directed by Peter Zinn, 2013. Manhattan Theatre Source finalist for The Estrogenius Festival, NYC, 2011
Last Night, HB Playwrights Theatre, The Bedroom Plays, directed by Jessica Shotwell, NYC, 2012 and HB Studio's first-floor performance space, Bank Street Project, directed by David O'Connor, NYC, 2011
One Night Stand, Roy Arias Theatre, Woman as Mother, directed by Mark Forlenza, NYC, 2010
For Art, HB Playwrights Theatre, The Restaurant Plays, directed by Karen Ludwig, NYC, 2010
Taxi Dreams, Manhattan Theatre Source, The Ingenious Festival, NYC, 2010 and HB Playwrights Theatre, The Living Room Plays, both directed by Marcia Sheiness, NYC, 2009
Selected Staged Readings
Women in Flux, (new version of five interwoven short plays) HB Studio Playwrights Forum, part one, NYC, 2021
Taxi Dreams, (new version) Write On, Boston, 2021
Numbers, (full-length) The Actors Studio, directed by Lori Kee, NYC, 2019
Women in Flux, The Lambs Club, directed by Albert Insinnia, NYC, 2018
Angela, The Lambs Club, NYC, 2018
Painting Circles, Boston Playwrights Theater, Boston, 2018
Fractals (one-act), The Lambs Club, NYC 2018; and The Players Club, NYC, 2017
Variations (full-length), The Players Club, NYC, 2016
In 2015 Boriss-Krimsky co-wrote Little Mr. Wonderful, included that year in Best Contemporary Monologues for Kids Ages 7-15, published by Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, Milwaukee, WI, and edited by Lawrence Harbison
Selected Productions
Call Me, Gallery Players, directed by Whitney Stone, NYC, 2022
Fractals, Smartphone Theatre, directed by Todd Felderstein, dramaturg, Peter Flood, CA, 2020
Flying, HB Playwrights Theatre, The Central Park Plays, directed by Eli Thacker Taylor, NYC, 2015
Perfectly Safe, HB Playwrights Theatre, The Office Plays, directed by Peter Zinn, NYC, 2014
Numbers, (ten-minute) HB Playwrights Theatre, The Kitchen Plays, directed by Peter Zinn, 2013. Manhattan Theatre Source finalist for The Estrogenius Festival, NYC, 2011
Last Night, HB Playwrights Theatre, The Bedroom Plays, directed by Jessica Shotwell, NYC, 2012 and HB Studio's first-floor performance space, Bank Street Project, directed by David O'Connor, NYC, 2011
One Night Stand, Roy Arias Theatre, Woman as Mother, directed by Mark Forlenza, NYC, 2010
For Art, HB Playwrights Theatre, The Restaurant Plays, directed by Karen Ludwig, NYC, 2010
Taxi Dreams, Manhattan Theatre Source, The Ingenious Festival, NYC, 2010 and HB Playwrights Theatre, The Living Room Plays, both directed by Marcia Sheiness, NYC, 2009
Selected Staged Readings
Women in Flux, (new version of five interwoven short plays) HB Studio Playwrights Forum, part one, NYC, 2021
Taxi Dreams, (new version) Write On, Boston, 2021
Numbers, (full-length) The Actors Studio, directed by Lori Kee, NYC, 2019
Women in Flux, The Lambs Club, directed by Albert Insinnia, NYC, 2018
Angela, The Lambs Club, NYC, 2018
Painting Circles, Boston Playwrights Theater, Boston, 2018
Fractals (one-act), The Lambs Club, NYC 2018; and The Players Club, NYC, 2017
Variations (full-length), The Players Club, NYC, 2016
In 2015 Boriss-Krimsky co-wrote Little Mr. Wonderful, included that year in Best Contemporary Monologues for Kids Ages 7-15, published by Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, Milwaukee, WI, and edited by Lawrence Harbison
Boriss-Krimsky also co-wrote an award-winning biography of Yoko Ono, titled Yoko Ono: Collector of Skies, published by Abrams Books, NYC in 2013. The book, considered one of the best books with significant feminist content for young adult readers, made the Amelia Bloomer Project List in 2014, YALSA’s Outstanding Books for the College Bound 2014 list, and the Cooperative Children’s Book Center’s Choices 2014 title. Jack Feerick in Popdose describes the book as "an invitation to consider a world in which Yoko Ono the artist can be considered in herself, not as half of a famous marriage." And Ann Angel, author of Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing, wrote, "This stunning biography is of a beautiful soul whose impact spans the globe and whose art has forged new ways of seeing the world."
Focusing primarily on the multimedia work of women artists, Boriss-Krimsky has also written for arts magazines. Selections from her published arts writings include, “Multimedia Pioneer: An Interview with Yoko Ono”, (Ruminator Review, 2002), “Yoko Ono: Art of the Mind,” (Art New England, 2001), “Self-taught Art: Who are the Outsiders in 'Outsider' Art?'” (Art New England, 2001) and “The Art of Public Conversation: A Look at Anna Deavere Smith and the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue,” (ArtsAround Boston, 2000).
After teaching in public schools, colleges, art studios, mental health centers and Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, she wrote a highly regarded art education book called The Creativity Handbook. In Cambridge, MA, Boriss-Krimsky co-founded and co-directed the Sacramento Street Gallery and launched Artspace, an art salon that nurtured the creative vision of young children and teens. As a visual artist, Boriss-Krimsky is best known for monotypes that merge painting, printmaking and collage into fragmented dialogues. Like her plays, they examine boundaries, connections and the search for wholeness.
Focusing primarily on the multimedia work of women artists, Boriss-Krimsky has also written for arts magazines. Selections from her published arts writings include, “Multimedia Pioneer: An Interview with Yoko Ono”, (Ruminator Review, 2002), “Yoko Ono: Art of the Mind,” (Art New England, 2001), “Self-taught Art: Who are the Outsiders in 'Outsider' Art?'” (Art New England, 2001) and “The Art of Public Conversation: A Look at Anna Deavere Smith and the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue,” (ArtsAround Boston, 2000).
After teaching in public schools, colleges, art studios, mental health centers and Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, she wrote a highly regarded art education book called The Creativity Handbook. In Cambridge, MA, Boriss-Krimsky co-founded and co-directed the Sacramento Street Gallery and launched Artspace, an art salon that nurtured the creative vision of young children and teens. As a visual artist, Boriss-Krimsky is best known for monotypes that merge painting, printmaking and collage into fragmented dialogues. Like her plays, they examine boundaries, connections and the search for wholeness.
