Itamar Moses (born 1977) is an Americanplaywright,author,producer andtelevision writer. He gained acclaim for writing the book for theBroadway musicalThe Band's Visit (2017) receiving theTony Award for Best Book of a Musical. He wrote the playCompleteness (2011) earning a nomination for theDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Play. He wrote books for the musicalsNobody Loves You (2012) andThe Fortress of Solitude (2014). His latest playThe Ally (2024) about a college teacher conflicted about signing a petition debuted atThe Public Theatre.

Moses started his television career writing for theTNT comedy-dramaMen of a Certain Age (2010–2011), and theHBO drama seriesBoardwalk Empire (2011), the latter of which earned him nominations for twoWriters Guild of America Awards. He also served as a writer and producer for the WGN drama seriesOutsiders in 2017 and theShowtime drama seriesThe Affair from 2018 to 2019.

Moses grew up in aJewish family^[1] inBerkeley,California, earned his bachelor's degree atYale University, and hisMaster of Fine Arts degree in dramatic writing fromNew York University. He has taught playwriting at both Yale and New York University.

This section maylendundue weight to reception of works, several of which have their own pages, is not proportional to notability, and little prose discusses anything besides these four plays. Pleasehelp improve it by rewriting it tocreate a more balanced presentation. Discuss andresolve this issue before removing this message.(January 2026)

Moses wrote the playCompleteness (2011) which premiered at the South Coast Repertory Theatre before transferring toPlaywrights Horizons, New York City.^[2] The play revolves around young people, in the Computer Science and Biology Departments of a university, talking about love,molecular biology andcomputer science, while going through a variety of partners.^[3] Bob Verini ofVariety in a mixed review praised his writing declaring, "[Moses] writesCompleteness for both genders — quite well, too — with an unexpectedly fine ear for contempo sexual politics’ dizzying conversational loops".^[4] The play went on to receive a nomination for theDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Play.^[5]

He has written for theTNT comedy-dramaMen of a Certain Age (2010–2011) andHBO drama seriesBoardwalk Empire (2011), the latter of which earned him nominations for twoWriters Guild of America Awards.

In 2014 he wrote the book to the musicalThe Fortress of Solitude with music and lyrics byMichael Friedman. The musical premiered atThe Public Theatre starringAdam Chanler-Berat,André De Shields,Brian Tyree Henry, andRebecca Naomi Jones.^[6] The musical is a coming-of-age story about teenagers in 1970sBrooklyn.^[7] Marilyn Stasio ofVariety praised the production but questioned its Broadway potential writing, "Is there an audience for this extraordinary show? Yes. Is there a Broadway audience? Maybe not." She added, "Make no mistake about it; this is no nostalgia piece, but the tragedy of friends who lost touch with one another and the music they grew up with."^[8]

His most prominent work, the musicalThe Band's Visit, opened on December 8, 2016, at theAtlantic Theater Company.^[9] That production won the 2017Obie Award for Musical Theatre Off-Broadway.^[10] After closing on January 9, 2017, the musical moved to Broadway.^[11] It began previews on October 7, 2017, and officially opened on November 9, 2017, at theEthel Barrymore Theatre. For his work onThe Band's Visit, Moses won the 2018Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical.

In 2024 Moses wrote the comedy-dramaThe Ally starringJosh Radnor as a Jewish college professor who deals with the moral quandary of being asked to sign a petition involving the denouncement of the state ofIsrael. The play was originally conceived during the Obama years and was slated to premiere in 2020 but was halted due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. The production directed byLila Neugebauer has received positive reviews withSara Holdren ofVulture praising the performances and writing adding, "Pulsing ominously at the heart ofThe Ally is a question — a truly frightening one for artists, for scholars, for critics — about the more perilous face of nuance."^[12] In a mixed review fromJesse Green ofThe New York Times he wrote that while "Moses’s play offers eloquent arguments on all sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict" it lacks certain narrative stakes adding, "I felt the need for more wisdom than craft".^[13]

• Bach at Leipzig. New York: Faber and Faber, 2005.
• The Four of Us. New York: Faber and Faber, 2008.

• Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Outrage at Google Books
• Review of Outrage at curtainup.com
• Review of Bach at Leipzig at curtainup.com

• 1977 births
• Living people
• 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights
• Jewish American dramatists and playwrights
• Tony Award winners
• Writers from Berkeley, California
• Yale University alumni
• New York University alumni
• Yale University faculty
• New York University faculty
• 21st-century American Jews

• Webarchive template wayback links
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Wikipedia neutral point of view disputes from January 2026
• All Wikipedia neutral point of view disputes