Mike Lew

Mike Lew’s plays include tiny father (Geffen, Barrington/Chautauqua, Audible); Teenage Dick (Donmar Warehouse, Ma-Yi/Public, Wooly Mammoth, Huntington, Artists Rep, O’Neill ws); Tiger Style! (TheatreWorks, SCR, Olney, Huntington, La Jolla, Alliance, O’Neill ws); Bike America (Ma-Yi, Alliance); microcrisis (Ma-Yi, InterAct); and Alpha Asians (Profile commission). His plays are in rep for the 2025-2027 seasons at Profile Theatre in Portland. His musical works include A Beat of Our Own with Sam Willmott and Rehana Lew Mirza (La Jolla, Birmingham Rep); Shook with Zoe Sarnak (Northern Stage/Goodman commission); and Love Somebody with Betty Who and Rehana Lew Mirza. Film: Gabby’s Dollhouse the Movie. Awards/Fellowships: Guggenheim, PEN, Dramatists Guild Council/Tony Voter, New Dramatists, EST...

Mike Lew’s plays include tiny father (Geffen, Barrington/Chautauqua, Audible); Teenage Dick (Donmar Warehouse, Ma-Yi/Public, Wooly Mammoth, Huntington, Artists Rep, O’Neill ws); Tiger Style! (TheatreWorks, SCR, Olney, Huntington, La Jolla, Alliance, O’Neill ws); Bike America (Ma-Yi, Alliance); microcrisis (Ma-Yi, InterAct); and Alpha Asians (Profile commission). His plays are in rep for the 2025-2027 seasons at Profile Theatre in Portland. His musical works include A Beat of Our Own with Sam Willmott and Rehana Lew Mirza (La Jolla, Birmingham Rep); Shook with Zoe Sarnak (Northern Stage/Goodman commission); and Love Somebody with Betty Who and Rehana Lew Mirza. Film: Gabby’s Dollhouse the Movie. Awards/Fellowships: Guggenheim, PEN, Dramatists Guild Council/Tony Voter, New Dramatists, EST, NYFA, Richard Rodgers, Kleban, Lanford Wilson, Helen Merrill, Weissberger, Kendeda, Heideman. Education: Juilliard, Yale.

Scripts

tiny father

by Mike Lew

Synopsis

When a “friends with benefits” relationship unexpectedly results in the early arrival of a baby girl, Daniel must choose between being a biological parent or becoming a father. With the help of Caroline, a no-nonsense night nurse, the new dad learns to navigate the protocols and frustrations of NICU life on his uncertain path to parenthood.

When a “friends with benefits” relationship unexpectedly results in the early arrival of a baby girl, Daniel must choose between being a biological parent or becoming a father. With the help of Caroline, a no-nonsense night nurse, the new dad learns to navigate the protocols and frustrations of NICU life on his uncertain path to parenthood.

Teenage Dick (vaguely from Richard III)

by Mike Lew

Synopsis

A brilliantly hilarious take on Shakespeare’s classic tale of power lust, TEENAGE DICK reimagines the most famous disabled character of all time as a 16-year-old outsider in the deepest winter of his discontent: his junior year at Roseland High. Picked on because of his cerebral palsy (as well as his sometimes creepy Shakespearean way of speaking), Richard is determined to have his revenge and make his name by...

A brilliantly hilarious take on Shakespeare’s classic tale of power lust, TEENAGE DICK reimagines the most famous disabled character of all time as a 16-year-old outsider in the deepest winter of his discontent: his junior year at Roseland High. Picked on because of his cerebral palsy (as well as his sometimes creepy Shakespearean way of speaking), Richard is determined to have his revenge and make his name by becoming president of the senior class. But as he manipulates and crushes the obstacles to his electoral success, Richard finds himself faced with a decision he never expected would be his to make: is it better to be loved or feared?

Tiger Style!

by Mike Lew

Synopsis

Albert and Jennifer Chen were at the pinnacle of academic achievement. But now they suck at adult life. Albert's just been passed up for promotion and Jennifer's just been dumped by her loser boyfriend. So they do what any reasonable egghead brother and sister would do and go on an Asian Freedom Tour! From California to Shenzen, "Tiger Style!" examines the successes and failures of tiger parenting from the point...

Albert and Jennifer Chen were at the pinnacle of academic achievement. But now they suck at adult life. Albert's just been passed up for promotion and Jennifer's just been dumped by her loser boyfriend. So they do what any reasonable egghead brother and sister would do and go on an Asian Freedom Tour! From California to Shenzen, "Tiger Style!" examines the successes and failures of tiger parenting from the point of view of a playwright who's actually been through it.

Bike America

by Mike Lew

Synopsis

Bike America is a wildly theatrical picaresque journey that crams the entire continent onto one stage. The play unfolds as a cross-country bike trip from Boston to California, with stops in big cities and small towns along the way. Our feckless heroine Penny is looking to bring more meaning into her life, to find a lifestyle that suits her and a town that feels like a home... so she drops her clingy boyfriend...

Bike America is a wildly theatrical picaresque journey that crams the entire continent onto one stage. The play unfolds as a cross-country bike trip from Boston to California, with stops in big cities and small towns along the way. Our feckless heroine Penny is looking to bring more meaning into her life, to find a lifestyle that suits her and a town that feels like a home... so she drops her clingy boyfriend in Beantown and takes off for Santa Barbara! Along the way she befriends a colorful crew of bikers: Ryan, the health nut biking instructor; Tim Billy, the innocent wanderer; Annabel and Rorie, the badass activists seeking to get gay-married in every state they hit on the trip; and the mysterious Man with the Van who carries their stuff. Bike America is a multi-state, multi-generational odyssey to discover our obsession with happiness.

“Bike America is a trip full of verve... It’s easily one of the better new plays by a young American writer I’ve seen in a long time” - Joseph Cermatori, Village Voice

“Lew adroitly captures the cross-country genre in his own uniquely cartoonish way, elevating the United States to a mythical land full of magic and monsters.” - Zachary Stewart, Theatermania

microcrisis

by Mike Lew

Synopsis

Set fast on the heels of the Great Recession, microcrisis jumps seamlessly between the U.S., Ghana, and Monaco to depict the world’s next financial crisis. The play hinges on the Nobel Peace Prize-winning concept of microcredit, the small loans to budding entrepreneurs meant to alleviate Third World poverty. microcrisis is a hilarious comedy about what happens when a banker named Bennett exploits microcredit...

Set fast on the heels of the Great Recession, microcrisis jumps seamlessly between the U.S., Ghana, and Monaco to depict the world’s next financial crisis. The play hinges on the Nobel Peace Prize-winning concept of microcredit, the small loans to budding entrepreneurs meant to alleviate Third World poverty. microcrisis is a hilarious comedy about what happens when a banker named Bennett exploits microcredit loans, lumps them into complex financial instruments, and crashes the global economy.

Backstage Critic’s Pick. nytheatre.com Pick of the Week.

“The savagery of microcrisis is impressive indeed.”
- David Rooney, NY Times
“an initial public offering worth investing in.”
- Miriam Felton-Dansky, Village Voice
“Deceptively smart in its construction.”
- Howard Shapiro, Philly Inquirer