Noa Gardner

Noa Gardner is a Native Hawaiian playwright born and raised in Kaimuki on the island of O’ahu. He recently graduated from an MFA Dramatic Writing program at the University of Southern California (2020).

He was a national finalist for the Gary Garrison Ten Minute play award (2016) and has had his one act and full-length plays read in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the Son of Semele Ensemble, the Los Angeles Theatre Company, as well as the Pasadena Playhouse.

His play "The Staircase" will premiere in May 2025 at South Coast Rep.

Noa Gardner is a Native Hawaiian playwright born and raised in Kaimuki on the island of O’ahu. He recently graduated from an MFA Dramatic Writing program at the University of Southern California (2020).

He was a national finalist for the Gary Garrison Ten Minute play award (2016) and has had his one act and full-length plays read in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the Son of Semele Ensemble, the Los Angeles Theatre Company, as well as the Pasadena Playhouse.

His play "The Staircase" will premiere in May 2025 at South Coast Rep.

Scripts

A Stone Is Nobodyʻs

by Noa Gardner

1
Cast Size
8—15
Genre
drama,
fable/folktale,
period,
tragedy

Gently is a soft and sheltered kid living alone with his manic mother. The two of them shut themselves off from the rest of the world, but when Gently catches a taste of what the outside world has to offer, he must now grow up fast and decide what truths to believe and myths to leave behind.

Gently is a soft and sheltered kid living alone with his manic mother. The two of them shut themselves off from the rest of the world, but when Gently catches a taste of what the outside world has to offer, he must now grow up fast and decide what truths to believe and myths to leave behind.

Nan

by Noa Gardner

9
Cast Size
5
Genre
drama

“Nan” centers on the lives of three Hawaiian women in a small family. Nan, the matriarch, gives her daughter, Alice, an impossible task, forcing Alice to come to terms with her life and relationship with her mother.

“Nan” centers on the lives of three Hawaiian women in a small family. Nan, the matriarch, gives her daughter, Alice, an impossible task, forcing Alice to come to terms with her life and relationship with her mother.

The Staircase

by Noa Gardner

1
Cast Size
4
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy,
drama,
tragedy

Mother and Son play cards and trade stories... and Father is up a tree.

Recipient of the Elizabeth George Commission and developed with the Pacific Playwrights Festival at South Coast Rep (2023)

Mother and Son play cards and trade stories... and Father is up a tree.

Recipient of the Elizabeth George Commission and developed with the Pacific Playwrights Festival at South Coast Rep (2023)

Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique

by Noa Gardner

Cast Size
8
Genre
comedy,
drama,
farce,
tragedy

Georgia Bell has put the house in a state of mourning following the death of her husband, and while her children pine to go into town, the world beyond has been changing, evolving, and is about to land on her front steps, threatening her home and way of life, forcing her family to face for the first time the implications of race, assimilation, and what is necessary to survive in this new world.

Georgia Bell has put the house in a state of mourning following the death of her husband, and while her children pine to go into town, the world beyond has been changing, evolving, and is about to land on her front steps, threatening her home and way of life, forcing her family to face for the first time the implications of race, assimilation, and what is necessary to survive in this new world.

Nan - A 10-Minute Play

by Noa Gardner

51
Cast Size
2
Genre
dark comedy,
drama,
tragedy

On the verge of making a life-changing decision, a strong-willed matriarch struggling with painful rheumatoid arthritis is forced to tell her granddaughter her future plans or risk hurting the ones she loves most.

On the verge of making a life-changing decision, a strong-willed matriarch struggling with painful rheumatoid arthritis is forced to tell her granddaughter her future plans or risk hurting the ones she loves most.