Esmé Maria Ng

Esmé Maria Ng (they/she/he) is an early-career theater maker of Cantonese and Scottish descent, whose work focuses on the complexities of Asian American history, queerness and the family unit. Upon graduating with a B.A. in Theater and American Studies from Wesleyan University in 2022, Esmé was awarded the Student Script Writer Award for excellence in playwriting and the Theater Outreach and Community Service award for their contributions to the landscape of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the performing arts.

As a playwright, Esmé seeks to embody the phenomenon of laughing at/through the pain. They look for joy in inappropriate moments, with often-understated-sometimes-surrealist aesthetics and complicated characters. Their plays have been presented by the Snug Harbor Porch Plays...

Esmé Maria Ng (they/she/he) is an early-career theater maker of Cantonese and Scottish descent, whose work focuses on the complexities of Asian American history, queerness and the family unit. Upon graduating with a B.A. in Theater and American Studies from Wesleyan University in 2022, Esmé was awarded the Student Script Writer Award for excellence in playwriting and the Theater Outreach and Community Service award for their contributions to the landscape of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the performing arts.

As a playwright, Esmé seeks to embody the phenomenon of laughing at/through the pain. They look for joy in inappropriate moments, with often-understated-sometimes-surrealist aesthetics and complicated characters. Their plays have been presented by the Snug Harbor Porch Plays Festival, the Not Forgotten Play Festival, the Wesleyan University Writers Circle Reading Series, and the Entry Level Salon Reading Series. Plays include: Pearl Dust from a Gun (Eugene O’Neill Semi-Finalist, Premiere Play Festival Semi-Finalist), FISH MEAT (Lambda Literary Retreat 2023, Workshop Theater Intensive), In Loving Memory (Wesleyan Writers Circle), F*cking Harold (WPC Not Forgotten Play Festival), and First Day (Snug Harbor Porch Plays Festival). In 2023, Esmé was named as a Lambda Literary Playwriting Fellow under the tutelage of Victor I. Cazares and a semi-finalist for the Van Lier New Voices Fellowship at Rattlestick Theater.

As an arts administrator, producer, dramaturg, and script evaluator, Esmé has worked at several notable theaters including Manhattan Theatre Club, Ma-Yi Theater Company, Breaking the Binary Theatre, The Playwrights Realm, Lime Arts Production Company, and Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. Currently, Esmé works as the Outreach and Engagement Associate at Classic Stage Company and a freelance writer/dramaturg in New York City.

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Scripts

i know why iris chang died

by Esmé Maria Ng

Cast Size
2
Genre
dark comedy,
drama,
tragedy

This is the year May is going to die. Before May dies, they're going to create their magnum opus - a graphic novel that encapsulates their family's experience during the Rape of Nanking. Meanwhile, their twin sister, April, is trying to have a baby. Inspired by the life and death of Chinese-American journalist Iris Chang, this dark and deeply funny two hander takes a look at legacy, mental health, and healing...

This is the year May is going to die. Before May dies, they're going to create their magnum opus - a graphic novel that encapsulates their family's experience during the Rape of Nanking. Meanwhile, their twin sister, April, is trying to have a baby. Inspired by the life and death of Chinese-American journalist Iris Chang, this dark and deeply funny two hander takes a look at legacy, mental health, and healing from generational trauma.

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FISH MEAT

by Esmé Maria Ng

4
Cast Size
4
Genre
dark comedy,
drama,
period

Mingzhu is a 14 year old girl on a boat going from Hong Kong to San Francisco in 1890, and Ro is a PhD candidate studying marine biology in present-day California. The fraught intertwinement of labor, sexual violence, and the complex beauty of marine biology bridge across space and time to bring these two together in a curious way.

Mingzhu is a 14 year old girl on a boat going from Hong Kong to San Francisco in 1890, and Ro is a PhD candidate studying marine biology in present-day California. The fraught intertwinement of labor, sexual violence, and the complex beauty of marine biology bridge across space and time to bring these two together in a curious way.

Pearl Dust from a Gun

by Esmé Maria Ng

5
Cast Size
6—11
Genre
biography,
docudrama/historic,
drama,
period,
political,
romantic comedy,
tragedy

Simply put - this is a play about a family in two acts. It is the summer of 1975 in Chinatown, NYC. A working-class family each experience a summer of change and growth as their oldest prepares to leave for college and their youngest is experiencing her first love. However, the father's growing involvement in the Flying Dragons gang begins to impact those around him in tragic and unexpected ways. A generation...

Simply put - this is a play about a family in two acts. It is the summer of 1975 in Chinatown, NYC. A working-class family each experience a summer of change and growth as their oldest prepares to leave for college and their youngest is experiencing her first love. However, the father's growing involvement in the Flying Dragons gang begins to impact those around him in tragic and unexpected ways. A generation later, a fragmented family disagrees on how to tell this story - if at all.

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First Day

by Esmé Maria Ng

2
Cast Size
1
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy,
political,
radio drama,
young audiences,
zoom

First Day is a short solo performance piece that reflects on privilege, race, and education in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. As the sun rises on the first day of school, a teacher reflects on the last semester, her race, and her desire to perform allyship when an Asian student in her class is targeted.

First Day is a short solo performance piece that reflects on privilege, race, and education in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. As the sun rises on the first day of school, a teacher reflects on the last semester, her race, and her desire to perform allyship when an Asian student in her class is targeted.

F*cking Harold

by Esmé Maria Ng

1
Cast Size
2
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy,
drama,
parody/spoof,
romantic comedy,
satire

F*cking Harold is a short, dark comedy about the patriarchy, sugar babies, and attempted murder. When Colleen breaks into her ex-husband’s apartment to murder him, she bumps into his new, much younger, girlfriend - Zoey. Wine drinking, unlikely friendships, and Pretty Woman references ensue.

F*cking Harold is a short, dark comedy about the patriarchy, sugar babies, and attempted murder. When Colleen breaks into her ex-husband’s apartment to murder him, she bumps into his new, much younger, girlfriend - Zoey. Wine drinking, unlikely friendships, and Pretty Woman references ensue.

in loving memory

by Esmé Maria Ng

Cast Size
5—10
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy,
drama,
political

This comedic one act follows three dysfunctional Chinese American siblings trying to keep it together on the day of their father's funeral. As the day of remembrance progresses, they each reflect on the memories they'd rather forget and secrets they'd rather keep.

This comedic one act follows three dysfunctional Chinese American siblings trying to keep it together on the day of their father's funeral. As the day of remembrance progresses, they each reflect on the memories they'd rather forget and secrets they'd rather keep.