Roland Tec has been leading audiences into thrilling, unexpected and eye-opening worlds for decades.
Whether he’s producing films, writing and directing theatre or composing new musicals and operas, Roland’s work all springs from a lifelong fascination with how human beings manage to connect in a world that sometimes seems to be designed to pull us apart.
His film, All the Rage, widely considered a hallmark of the Queer Indie Cinema wave of the 1990s, had its world premiere at the San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival where it sold out the iconic Castro Theater. As the film toured the international festival circuit followed by theatrical, television and DVD release, its critical take on the A-list Gay Male White Urban Elite made it a flashpoint for controversy. Mr. Tec wrote, produced, directed and scored the film.

He also scored his second feature film, We Pedal Uphill, a tapestry film composed of 13 portraits of bravery and cowardice etched against a backdrop of post-911 America and its climate of fear.

As Co-Producer of Edward Zwick’s film Defiance, Mr. Tec served as a conduit between the production and the author of the non-fiction book on which the film is based, his mother, Holocaust scholar, Nechama Tec. Defiance stars Daniel Craig as Tuvia Bielski, Jewish rescuer and leader of the largest armed rescue of Jews by Jews during the second world war.

Tec’s plays and operas have premiered to wide acclaim, often being celebrated for his uncanny ability to present some of the darkest qualities of the human condition with sharp wit and a deep empathy. Notable titles include: Bodily Function, The Rubber Room (co-written with Gary Garrison), The Wreck Behind Us and his forthcoming play, What We Get to Keep, set to premiere in the fall of 2023.

When the 2020 pandemic shuttered theaters worldwide, Tec embarked on a mission to expand the scope and reach of monologue as one of the few forms of theater that could somehow still communicate within the confines of the Zoom platform. Since its founding, Hear Me Out Monologues has provided a venue to more than 150 writers who have proved themselves capable of making drama unfold with little more than a compelling character with a clear agenda and an audience gathered and eager to bear witness.

In the summer of 2022, Tec performed his solo Zoom show, a response to the January 6th American Insurrection, A Nagging Feeling Best Not Ignored. He is currently working on a companion piece he’ll perform live and in person, About My Twin Brother Benj.