NYWIFT Blog

By Shayna Cartledge 

Welcome to NYWIFT, Rhona Silverbush!

Rhona’s windy career path led to her co-writing the award-winning pilot for Dark Ladies, a series she and Sami Plotkin are poised to take into the marketplace. 

Rhona studied psychology and theater, acted regionally, became a lawyer representing asylum seekers, and worked with the Roosevelt Institute before returning to her first loves – theater and writing. 

She co-produced/co-directed Conversations with Shakespeare with Daniela Varon at Symphony Space. She’s written Speak the Speech! Shakespeare’s Monologues Illuminated with Sami Plotkin; ‘wichcraft: craft a sandwich into a meal–and a meal into a sandwich’ for chefs Tom Colicchio and Sisha Ortuzar; and the Terrific Toddlers picture books with Carol Zeavin.

She’s also a story consultant for documentarian George Nierenberg.

In our interview, Rhona shares insight on pivoting careers, the lessons she’s learned along the way, and all things Shakespeare.  

Could you give our readers a brief introduction to yourself?

Mine is an eclectic resume. After acting with a Shakespeare company and regionally, I got a J.D. and represented asylum seekers. I loved my clients and loved the results of the work, but didn’t find the work itself to be the right fit for me, so I worked on civil rights and human rights projects for a time with a nonprofit while segueing back to theatre and writing.

My writing partner, Sami Plotkin, and I wrote a guide to acting Shakespeare (actually a guide to all things Shakespeare), and I’ve also written several other books, including a series of nine picture books for toddlers with Carol Zeavin, a cookbook with my celeb-chef brother-in-law, and a guide for parents that Sami and I were hired to write on how to best support school-age children in their studies.

I coach actors, and for many years I also worked with tweens with learning differences. 

I now work as a story consultant in film, and for the last few years Sami and I have been researching and writing Dark Ladies – a historical dramatic TV series based on a real-life mystery with our guy Will Shakespeare at its heart. 

What brought you to NYWIFT?

The pilot for Dark Ladies won its category in the Big Apple Film Festival’s Women’s Spotlight Edition, and our first year’s membership in NYWIFT was one of the prizes! We’re thrilled – we’d both been wanting to join! I’m delighted to be in community with the creative, bright and supportive women of NYWIFT.

How has your upbringing and background influenced your writing style and technique?

My mother’s a Holocaust survivor, which clued me in from an early age to pain and suffering in the world – it’s no wonder I first became an asylum attorney – as well as to the use of both storytelling and humor as tools for survival.

I was also decidedly uncoordinated and unathletic, so I became an Olympic reader, and was drawn from an early age to authors with assured and distinctive voices. Their playfulness with language has always delighted me as much as the content of their writing, and I aspire to be among them.

What advice would you give those looking to make a pivot in their career?

DO IT! We are forever learning about ourselves, and we have a right to seek out meaningful work that honors what we’ve discovered along the way. Keep assessing what you want/need and keep pivoting.

My writing partner Carol, with whom I co-wrote the nine picture books for toddlers, was 70 when she held the first of them in her hands, hot off the presses (of a reputable publisher). 70. Never think it’s too late to pivot. Do your research first, of course…but don’t let what you’ve learned discourage you – think what a great autobiopic you’ll be able to make some day. You’ve got this.

What is the hardest but most valuable lesson you’ve learned throughout your journey? 

That if what you want to do isn’t already out there for you, you might just need to create the opportunity for yourself, extra hard as that might be to do. 

What is your greatest accomplishment in your career so far? What do you hope to accomplish in the future?

Co-writing Speak the Speech! Shakespeare’s Monologues Illuminated, which has become the go-to compendium about acting Shakespeare. I’m also very proud of the series of developmental-psych research-based picture books for toddlers, which toddlers really see themselves in and love.

As for what I hope to accomplish in the future, I’m determined to make Dark Ladies and the whole “Early Modern Universe” Sami and I have plotted out.

Tell us about your most recent project. Anything on the horizon our readers should keep their eyes out for?

Dark Ladies is a reverse-chronology drama set in Tudor London that explores the mystery of the identity of the “Dark Lady” of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, by exploring the lives of Shakespeare and the three women most suspected of being her. The series moves backwards in each successive episode from when the Sonnets are published without Shakespeare’s consent to the time of the love-triangle outlined in the Sonnets, solving both the mystery of her identity and the question of who stole the Sonnets (…and how…and why). We’re just now taking it out to market.

I also recently served as story consultant for documentary filmmaker George Nierenberg’s new documentary, Out of Breath, which will be airing on PBS in the coming year – he did a great job, despite the pandemic, and it’s a lovely film that holds the promise of helping countless people who suffer from sleep apnea.

And Sami and I have written a picture book for four-to-seven-year-olds that we believe would make a smashing pilot for an animated children’s program.

Connect with Rhona Silverbush on Instagram @rhonasilverbush or Twitter @RSilverbush

(All images courtesy of Rhona Silverbush)