Nicholas Pilapil

Nicholas Pilapil is a Filipino American playwright. His plays include "God Will Do The Rest" (Artists at Play & Latino Theater Company), "The Bottoming Process" (IAMA Theatre Company, Victory Gardens Ignition Festival of New Plays), "Luca & Uri" (Playwrights' Arena & Victory Theatre Center), and "if all that You take from this is courage, then I've no regrets" (winner of the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival). His work has also been developed with Geffen Playhouse, Theater Mu, Playwrights Foundation, Boston Court Pasadena, Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA, Theatre Rhinoceros, and The Workshop Theater, among others. Nicholas is currently under commission with Playwrights’ Arena and is an alum of The Writers’ Room at the Geffen Playhouse, IAMA Theatre Company’s Emerging Playwrights Lab, and...

Nicholas Pilapil is a Filipino American playwright. His plays include "God Will Do The Rest" (Artists at Play & Latino Theater Company), "The Bottoming Process" (IAMA Theatre Company, Victory Gardens Ignition Festival of New Plays), "Luca & Uri" (Playwrights' Arena & Victory Theatre Center), and "if all that You take from this is courage, then I've no regrets" (winner of the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival). His work has also been developed with Geffen Playhouse, Theater Mu, Playwrights Foundation, Boston Court Pasadena, Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA, Theatre Rhinoceros, and The Workshop Theater, among others. Nicholas is currently under commission with Playwrights’ Arena and is an alum of The Writers’ Room at the Geffen Playhouse, IAMA Theatre Company’s Emerging Playwrights Lab, and artEquity.

Scripts

God Will Do The Rest

by Nicholas Pilapil

Synopsis

Welcome to Cerritos, California—where the tsinelas stack high, the gossip flows hotter than the adobo, and the de Dios family is praying their way through the chaos. "God Will Do The Rest" follows three generations of a Filipino American family wrestling with faith, identity, generational trauma—and each other—as they gather for a nine-day prayer ritual in honor of the Santo Niño.

Welcome to Cerritos, California—where the tsinelas stack high, the gossip flows hotter than the adobo, and the de Dios family is praying their way through the chaos. "God Will Do The Rest" follows three generations of a Filipino American family wrestling with faith, identity, generational trauma—and each other—as they gather for a nine-day prayer ritual in honor of the Santo Niño.

The Bottoming Process

by Nicholas Pilapil

Synopsis

When Milo, a sharp-tongued Filipino writer with more social media followers than bylines, meets John, an older, celebrated white novelist, their chemistry is electric—undeniable, and anything but simple. What starts as a flirty coffee date quickly spirals into a charged collision of ambition, lust, and identity. As their relationship deepens behind closed doors and in the public eye, so do the power dynamics...

When Milo, a sharp-tongued Filipino writer with more social media followers than bylines, meets John, an older, celebrated white novelist, their chemistry is electric—undeniable, and anything but simple. What starts as a flirty coffee date quickly spirals into a charged collision of ambition, lust, and identity. As their relationship deepens behind closed doors and in the public eye, so do the power dynamics—forcing them to navigate the messy politics of race, sex, storytelling, and who gets to tell whose story.

Luca & Uri

by Nicholas Pilapil

Synopsis

Over the course of a decade, two men fall in and out of love beneath the moonlit skies of Los Angeles—holding tight through entangled sheets, quiet heartbreaks, and the ever-shifting shape of who they are. As time stretches and dreams pull them in different directions, they learn what happens when growing together starts to mean growing apart. (formerly titled Multiple Loads)

Over the course of a decade, two men fall in and out of love beneath the moonlit skies of Los Angeles—holding tight through entangled sheets, quiet heartbreaks, and the ever-shifting shape of who they are. As time stretches and dreams pull them in different directions, they learn what happens when growing together starts to mean growing apart. (formerly titled Multiple Loads)

I Loved You More Than I'd Ever Dare Tell You

by Nicholas Pilapil

Synopsis

In this Filipino American reimagining of Tennessee Williams’ "The Glass Menagerie," memory clings to the walls of a home that holds everything but the truth. Within its rooms, a domineering mother, a haunted daughter, and a son with secrets wrestle with the cost of survival, the burden of dreams, and the ache passed down between generations.

In this Filipino American reimagining of Tennessee Williams’ "The Glass Menagerie," memory clings to the walls of a home that holds everything but the truth. Within its rooms, a domineering mother, a haunted daughter, and a son with secrets wrestle with the cost of survival, the burden of dreams, and the ache passed down between generations.

The Frailest Leaves

by Nicholas Pilapil

Synopsis

On the graveyard shift of their tenuous job, two young men crash into each other's lives with unexpected desire and intimacy, and their nights are filled with poetry and unspoken truths. Exploring queerness, privilege, and belonging, "The Frailest Leaves" exposes the beauty of connection and the cost of being seen.

On the graveyard shift of their tenuous job, two young men crash into each other's lives with unexpected desire and intimacy, and their nights are filled with poetry and unspoken truths. Exploring queerness, privilege, and belonging, "The Frailest Leaves" exposes the beauty of connection and the cost of being seen.

Beast Among Men

by Nicholas Pilapil

Synopsis

In the shadow of American politics, a queer sex worker and a morally righteous senator are bound by a secret that thrives in the dark. When that secret is exposed, "Beast Among Men" follows the fallout of hypocrisy, faith, and ambition in a nation obsessed with power and purity. Adapted from Pedro Calderón de la Barca's "Life Is a Dream," the play explores how privilege, class, and sexuality determine who wields...

In the shadow of American politics, a queer sex worker and a morally righteous senator are bound by a secret that thrives in the dark. When that secret is exposed, "Beast Among Men" follows the fallout of hypocrisy, faith, and ambition in a nation obsessed with power and purity. Adapted from Pedro Calderón de la Barca's "Life Is a Dream," the play explores how privilege, class, and sexuality determine who wields power—and who gets silenced.

My Dog Died; and Other Concerns

by Nicholas Pilapil

Synopsis

Nick's dog died—and life decides to bite back. Between battling grief and drowning in mourning, Nick relives growing up brown, overweight and Catholic; coming of age with a killer illness; and disorderly navigating his twenties with bipolar. But with newfound loss in his heart, he finds hidden trauma behind the memories he thought were the truth.

Nick's dog died—and life decides to bite back. Between battling grief and drowning in mourning, Nick relives growing up brown, overweight and Catholic; coming of age with a killer illness; and disorderly navigating his twenties with bipolar. But with newfound loss in his heart, he finds hidden trauma behind the memories he thought were the truth.

if all that You take from this is courage, then I've no regrets

by Nicholas Pilapil

Synopsis

After a brush with danger, a strong-willed matriarch reminisces with her grandson on all the things their histories have taught them. This 10-minute play explores Filipino American identity, intergenerational disconnect, and weighing your wars to make sure you're not fighting for nothing.

After a brush with danger, a strong-willed matriarch reminisces with her grandson on all the things their histories have taught them. This 10-minute play explores Filipino American identity, intergenerational disconnect, and weighing your wars to make sure you're not fighting for nothing.

saving all my worries for that day You don't need Me

by Nicholas Pilapil

Synopsis

Luz and Felip have a love that defies the boundaries of Heaven and Earth—but only during the window when the morning becomes the earliest hour of the afternoon. A 10-minute play about whether finding your soulmate is a love of choice or destiny.

Luz and Felip have a love that defies the boundaries of Heaven and Earth—but only during the window when the morning becomes the earliest hour of the afternoon. A 10-minute play about whether finding your soulmate is a love of choice or destiny.

Before and After

by Nicholas Pilapil

Synopsis

Rose is the most popular girl at North Bay Hills High. She’s all that! But, don’t touch her Asian hair or you’ll live to regret it, because she puts the mean girls to shame. Judy is the new girl at school, and she's clueless—and dreams of being just like everyone else. But her dreams soon become reality when Rose lures her into the glamorous world of being a badass bitch, and in true teen movie fashion, turns...

Rose is the most popular girl at North Bay Hills High. She’s all that! But, don’t touch her Asian hair or you’ll live to regret it, because she puts the mean girls to shame. Judy is the new girl at school, and she's clueless—and dreams of being just like everyone else. But her dreams soon become reality when Rose lures her into the glamorous world of being a badass bitch, and in true teen movie fashion, turns her from a basketcase into a princess. But it’s not easy being popular and fabulous at North Bay Hills. And Judy's teen dream soon starts to unravel and she's forced to choose between her life before and after.

Young Dumb Broke High School Kids

by Nicholas Pilapil

Synopsis

Everything sucks for high school kids Bliss, Olivia, and Miles. Bliss is a dreamer but she's knocked up and knocked down, Olivia is a lover with no one to love her back, and Miles is an orphan who would kill to have a family. And together they sling back slushies, barf down chili cheese fries, and try to sort out their lives in the most dangerous ways. They're unloved and fucked up...and it's whatever.

Everything sucks for high school kids Bliss, Olivia, and Miles. Bliss is a dreamer but she's knocked up and knocked down, Olivia is a lover with no one to love her back, and Miles is an orphan who would kill to have a family. And together they sling back slushies, barf down chili cheese fries, and try to sort out their lives in the most dangerous ways. They're unloved and fucked up...and it's whatever.

Celebrity Trash

by Nicholas Pilapil

Synopsis

A modern-day adaptation of "Miss Julie," August Strindberg’s iconic play about class and sex, "Celebrity Trash; or another Miss Julie play" adds explorations of race, white male privilege, and the machine of celebrity pop culture to the mix. After a sex tape scandal, Harlow, an 'It Girl' famous for her fame, tries to rehab her image, but when her father throws a lavish party in their mansion, she's tempted again...

A modern-day adaptation of "Miss Julie," August Strindberg’s iconic play about class and sex, "Celebrity Trash; or another Miss Julie play" adds explorations of race, white male privilege, and the machine of celebrity pop culture to the mix. After a sex tape scandal, Harlow, an 'It Girl' famous for her fame, tries to rehab her image, but when her father throws a lavish party in their mansion, she's tempted again by Hollywood's excess—and by one her father’s social-climbing employees. What follows is a dangerous game of seduction as the two battle each other in a struggle for power and an escape from their trapped existences.