Adapted from the critically acclaimed play, ADULT FICTION is set in an adult bookshop and movie arcade in Times Square on a scorching summer day in 1979. The story revolves around Earl, the middle-aged manager of the shop, who feels a weary disappointment on how his life has evolved, and his young friend, Mikie, a naïve and inexperienced nineteen-year-old. Despite the seamy surroundings, Earl has a strong sense of basic morality, and he wants to help Mikie achieve a better life than his own. When Earl sets up Mikie on a date with a waitress friend of his, the story takes a hilarious turn. The play explores themes of morality, friendship, sexuality, and the yearning for love. Therein lies much of the irony and comedy and timeliness of ADULT FICTION.

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Introduction to THE BEST PLAYS OF 2000

"Having acted in Brian Richard Mori's ADULT FICTION during readings and backers' auditions, I testify firsthand that each and every reading generated unabashed enthusiasm from theatrically astute audiences.  On the page, this play may seem like a thinly disguised father and son story set against a sleazy erotic background.  Read it again.  One sees the loneliness of lost dreams and dreams that are about to be lost.  ADULT FICTION will bring a laugh and a tear to the eyes of any audience.  Brian Richard Mori, like the other writers in this collection, is a lighthouse in a foggy theatrical world."  - Dan Lauria

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TRICITY NEWS (Nick Montesano):  “Sometimes the most apt of pupils and the most philosophical of teachers miss emphasizing the single most important aspect of a lesson.  The result leaves both with more to learn.  The New Jersey Repertory Theatre in Long Branch is currently presenting the New Jersey premiere of Brian Mori’s ADULT FICTION.  Don’t miss it.  Mori’s tender tale is set in the most unlikely, yet somehow appropriate of places, an adult bookstore in Times Square in 1979.  What unravels is the relationship between Earl, the proprietor of the shop, and Mikie, the son of one of Earl’s former love interests.  In the course of one evening, the two men discuss life, women, predestination, money, coffee, kiddy porn and life.  And when Earl sets Mikie up on a date, Earl instructs his young protégé how to bring candy, take her to a movie, compliment her, and not expect sex right away.  We are sure that Mikie knows exactly what to do.  The results, however, are nothing short of hysterical and disastrous with bitingly difficult realizations for both men.  This is an outstanding evening of theatre.  The play itself is a masterwork of character study.  Mori has written a story with a poetic vernacular that rings so true it almost sounds improvised.... The language of Mori’s play serves to create characters that are tender and rich, and he weaves a tale that is filled with subtlety, sadness and an underling hope.”  

THE TWO RIVER TIMES (Philip Dorian):  "'ADULT FICTION is a startling good play.'"  Playwright Brian Richard Mori has a sure ear for common dialogue, and, ably guided by director Stewart Fisher, Jerry Marino and Aaron Vieira act the heck out of it.... The laughs don’t come from quips; rather they come from recognition of the awkwardness we’ve all experienced in similar situations.... Mr. Mori is a talent to watch.... ADULT FICTION is not an optimistic play; its theme is failed relationships.... [B]e drawn into the expressive writing, directing and acting of ADULT FICTION."

THE TWO RIVER TIMES (NEW JERSEY THEATRE:  THE BEST OF 2000) (Philip Dorian):  “It was a ‘startling good play.’”  Brian Richard Mori’s expressive writing, Stewart Fisher’s crisp direction, and sensitive performances by Jerry Marino and Aaron Vieira made ADULT FICTION the best of New Jersey Repertory Company’s 2000 offerings.  Producers Gabe and SuzAnne Barabas searched high and low for new plays by promising playwrights.  The results span the same spectrum; ADULT FICTION was a high.” 

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Production:  New Jersey Repertory Company - Long Branch, NJ

Production:  GeVa Theatre - Rochester, NY

Showcase:  Van Dam Theatre - New York, NY

Optioned for off-Broadway by Evans Haile

Optioned for off-Broadway by Raft Theatre

Optioned for off-Broadway by Force Ten Productions

Optioned for off-Broadway by the First East Coast Theatre and Publishing Company

Winner of the Davie Prize for Playwrighting

Multiple readings across the U.S.

Published by Smith & Kraus in an anthology entitled THE BEST PLAYS OF 2000

Adapted from the play, the screenplay is an adult sex comedy which takes place on a single day:  November 7, 2000, Election Day.  The story focuses on three couples in their mid- to late-thirties who get together to watch the election returns.  The couples are grappling with the same thing the rest of the country was grappling with:  do they stay the course or do they opt for change? 

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“It’s refreshing to read a script that was clearly written for educated, savvy adults.  His story assumes a certain amount of intelligence on the part of its audience.  It’s something of a surprise to read a script about sex that doesn’t talk down to its audience.”  - James Glover, Bush Theatre

“I’d like to congratulate Brian on how he literally brought the national crisis home, showing how it affects everyday people.  His play is an engaging comic examination of the insidiousness and indifference that has seeped into contemporary relationships.  The structural cleverness of simultaneous action, the sharp writing and compelling characters all contribute to make CONCESSIONS the successful wry wicked comedy of manners that it is.  The cinematic nature of the play effectively communicates the extent to which his characters -- and the nation at large -- are rocked from their very foundation of deceit.”  - Liz Engleman, McCarter Theatre

“CONCESSIONS was an enjoyable read, and it shows a great deal of deftness in dialogue.  The way in which he has orchestrated the action in the fragmented scenes is also an admirable feat.”  - Kyle Brenton, Pittsburgh Public Theatre

“His writing shows a strong sense of wit and pacing and craft; certainly the themes are timely.”  - Marge Betley, GeVa Theatre

"He has written an engaging play which hilariously juxtaposes sex with politics.”  - Amy Levinson, Geffen Playhouse

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Workshop:  Alabama Shakespeare Festival - Montgomery, AL

Reading:  Abingdon Theatre Company - New York, NY

Reading:  New Jersey Repertory Company - Long Branch, NJ

Kay Halaran, a pretty, no nonsense, defense attorney, defends her ex-husband, Peter Hollister, who is charged with the murder of his lover’s wealthy, older husband.  Unbeknownst to Peter, his lover, Claire Reiniger, hired a private detective, Angelo Vitale, who was blackmailing her, to do the deed.  Vitale, however, frames Peter for the murder, leaving himself in the clear; and, because there would no easy way of explaining it without implicating herself, Claire has no choice but to go along with it.  INTIMATE RELATIONS is an imbroglio of conflicting loyalties and motives, with an ending that is as logical as it is surprising.

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Optioned by Major Arts Corporation (Igo Kantor, Sid Balkin, Steve Mills, producers) 

Photographer Richard Dobbs finds fame and notoriety when he inadvertently records his wife’s tragic suicide leap.  Dobbs, acclaimed for taking provocative surreptitious photographs of people in their apartments from a high purview, becomes obsessed with a woman who bears a striking resemblance to his dead wife.  He slowly becomes aware that he too is being photographed, leading him into a complex web of murder and mystery.

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Optioned by Brendan Gabriel Murphy (Altered States Entertainment) and Joe Salvador Montifiore (Rafterman Media Entertainment)

Optioned by Global Film Group (Raja Collins, producer)

Optioned by Molecular and Altered State Entertainment (Jeff Beard and Brendan Gabriel Murphy, producers)

Optioned by Coppoletta Productions (Joe Coppoletta, producer)

Optioned by Samaha Productions (Demitri Samaha, producer)

FADE IN Magazine Award Winner (Film Noir Category)

A psychological thriller about a female investigative TV reporter who seeks to prove that a woman, serving multiple life sentences for committing a brutal, unspeakable crime, was framed. 

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Screenplay by Brian Richard Mori and Charles Salzberg

Story by Charles Salzberg and Brian Richard Mori  

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Optioned by Gimmie a Break Productions (Iris Dugow, producer)

Optioned by Legacy Filmworks, Ltd. (Deboragh Gabler, producer)

Optioned by Hemisphere Entertainment (Brad Wilson, producer)

Optioned by Orly Adelson Productions (Orly Adelson, producer)

Optioned by The Landsburg Company (Leslie Lipton, producer)

Optioned by Major Arts Corporation (Igo Kantor, Sid Balkin, Steve Mills, producers) 

Adapted from the play, the screenplay is about the remarkable true story of Mary Toft, a poor, illiterate woman who, in 1726, in the Village of Godalming in the County of Surrey, England, convinced half of England, including the most prominent doctors of their day, that she had given birth to rabbits.

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"What a strange and lovely -- if I can use that term -- play.  It has an authentic and dramatic flair, thoroughly distinct characters, and a wonderful tone that resists the temptation to comment on its own outrageousness.  [The play] captures an atmosphere that is startlingly idiosyncratic, and it finds a dramatic expression of what I suspect may be profound value questions about what it takes to make a go of things in this life.”  - Shepard Sobel, The Pearl Theatre Company

“[W]e had a lot of fun with this play and it was seriously considered for inclusion up to the end.  Eventually, it was decided that it was a bit too graphic sexually, and a bit too ‘gross’ for our audiences here in Orlando.  But it is really a fun piece.”  - Patrick Flick, Orlando Shakespeare Festival

"The play’s premise is fascinating and bizarre, and the writer has crafted a funny, sly and contemporary satire out of the material.”  - Tanya Palmer, The Goodman Theatre

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Semi-finalist:  Orlando Shakespeare’s Harriet Lake Festival of Plays

Semi-finalist:  Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center’s National Playwrights Conference

Reading:  New Jersey Repertory Company

Adapted for the screen

Adapted from the play, the screenplay is a meditation on compromise, about the portrayal of black actors in the early days of the motion picture industry, arguably "Hollywood's" darkest stain.  The two scene structure centers on a morning's rehearsal of a forgettable scene of a forgettable movie, circa 1936.

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LOS ANGELES TIMES:  "Brian Richard Mori’s one-act play is akin to short fiction, packing a lot into a small slice of life.... [The play] smartly and accurately targets the racism in early Hollywood films.”

DRAMA-LOGUE:  "SLOW FADE TO BLACK takes a hard look at the successful ‘colored’ actors in the film industry of 1936.... Mori’s script is meticulously clever in setting us up -- allowing us to put down our collective political correctness to laugh spontaneously -- only to smack reality in our faces.”

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Production:  University of Illinois - Louisville, KY

Production:  Studio Theatre, Inc. - New York, NY

Production:  Bitter Truth Theatre - North Hollywood, CA

Production:  Neighborhood Playhouse - Atlanta, GA

Adapted from the play, the screenplay is based loosely on the infamous Lana Turner-Johnny Stompanato-Cheryl Crane scandal, told from “Johnny’s” point of view.  Johnny, a young gigolo/hood, sees Serena, an older, legendary movie actress, as his ticket to a new life, while Serena dreams of the glory days when she was the Hollywood glamour queen.  Caught in the middle of this doomed triangle is Chris, Serena’s 14-year-old daughter – moody and awkward, with little of her mother’s grace or beauty.

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Optioned by Molecular and Altered State Entertainment (Jeff Beard, Brendan Gabriel Murphy and Michael David Lynch, producers)

Optioned by Ruben Preuss, producer

Optioned by Sheri Brummond, producer

Adapted from the play, the screenplay is about a comedian of dubious talent signs his soul to the Devil (an agent) for an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show and 20 years "Top Banana."

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Reading:  Shelter West Theatre Company - New York, NY