Susan Pak

Susan H. Pak has taught playwriting, screenwriting, television writing and webseries writing at the university-level for over a decade.

Susan received an MFA in writing for the screen and stage at Northwestern University; she received both a BA in English and a JD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Susan's work centers on the myriad ways in which Asian Americans, and in particular Korean American women, resist the seduction of protection through assimilation. Her works have been produced in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles and include: Election at the Goodman Theater, The Fixer at the Steppenwolf Theater, Marabar at Chicago Dramatists, Ghost Girl at the Workshop Theater, T.A.B. at New York’s Downtown Urban Theater Festival, and the Manhattan Repertory Theater Festival...

Susan H. Pak has taught playwriting, screenwriting, television writing and webseries writing at the university-level for over a decade.

Susan received an MFA in writing for the screen and stage at Northwestern University; she received both a BA in English and a JD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Susan's work centers on the myriad ways in which Asian Americans, and in particular Korean American women, resist the seduction of protection through assimilation. Her works have been produced in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles and include: Election at the Goodman Theater, The Fixer at the Steppenwolf Theater, Marabar at Chicago Dramatists, Ghost Girl at the Workshop Theater, T.A.B. at New York’s Downtown Urban Theater Festival, and the Manhattan Repertory Theater Festival; Haters at New York’s Midtown International Theater Festival; Baby Shower at New York’s Network One Act Festival; Incredible Invisible at Chicago’s Bailiwick Director’s Fest; Ladies’ Man at Chicago Dramatists; and The Writers at Theater Unleashed in Los Angeles. Her play Miguk Saram was a finalist at the 2020 O'Neill National Playwrights Conference.

Scripts

The F*ck House

by Susan Pak

Synopsis

A Korean American teen and her best friend navigate the terrors of the midwestern suburbs. Now entering junior high, all Mo wants to be is “normal,” and assimilate into invisibility. Unfortunately, this will alienate her best friend, Laura, who only wants to be “special.” Will their friendship survive?

A Korean American teen and her best friend navigate the terrors of the midwestern suburbs. Now entering junior high, all Mo wants to be is “normal,” and assimilate into invisibility. Unfortunately, this will alienate her best friend, Laura, who only wants to be “special.” Will their friendship survive?

Miguk Saram

by Susan Pak

Synopsis

A highly ambitious, Korean American teen will stop at nothing to get into his dream university. However, his plans are suddenly derailed when he is seduced by a social justice warrior, as well as an alt-right extremist. Will he make the right choice?

A highly ambitious, Korean American teen will stop at nothing to get into his dream university. However, his plans are suddenly derailed when he is seduced by a social justice warrior, as well as an alt-right extremist. Will he make the right choice?

The Fixer

by Susan Pak

Synopsis

A bitter, Korean American, expat professor is thrilled when her best friend, a beautiful and brilliant attorney, joins her in the sparkling city of Dubai. The two enjoy a luxurious and decadent existence at their dream jobs, until one of them is unceremoniously fired. Can the two keep their friendship intact, as they attempt to navigate the shark infested waters of academia? "The Fixer" hilariously examines the...

A bitter, Korean American, expat professor is thrilled when her best friend, a beautiful and brilliant attorney, joins her in the sparkling city of Dubai. The two enjoy a luxurious and decadent existence at their dream jobs, until one of them is unceremoniously fired. Can the two keep their friendship intact, as they attempt to navigate the shark infested waters of academia? "The Fixer" hilariously examines the ways in which lifelong best friends confront issues of allyship, intersectional feminism, and American exceptionalism, as they attempt to protect themselves and each other from their increasingly hostile surroundings.

The Name Jar (an adaptation of the book by Yangsook Choi)

by Susan Pak

Synopsis

After her first day of school in America, a young, Korean, immigrant girl decides to change her name to something "easer to pronounce." With the enthusiastic help of her new classmates, she soon has a jar filled with exciting new names. Will she choose a new name? Or will she find value in her own?

After her first day of school in America, a young, Korean, immigrant girl decides to change her name to something "easer to pronounce." With the enthusiastic help of her new classmates, she soon has a jar filled with exciting new names. Will she choose a new name? Or will she find value in her own?

Marabar

by Susan Pak

Synopsis

Joseph and Helen Yao are comfortable expats in an oil-rich, Arab Gulf State. But after their adopted infant daughter dies at a local hospital, this Asian American couple is forced to deal with the issues of xenophobia, American exceptionalism, and ethnic self-hatred that emerge in the aftermath. When faced with life or death stakes, how far will the Yao’s go to assert their innocence in a strange land?

Joseph and Helen Yao are comfortable expats in an oil-rich, Arab Gulf State. But after their adopted infant daughter dies at a local hospital, this Asian American couple is forced to deal with the issues of xenophobia, American exceptionalism, and ethnic self-hatred that emerge in the aftermath. When faced with life or death stakes, how far will the Yao’s go to assert their innocence in a strange land?

Games

by Susan Pak

Synopsis

A highly ambitious, Korean American teen will stop at nothing to get into his dream university. He’s conquered his classes and mastered his prep tests, but can he triumph over Improv?

A highly ambitious, Korean American teen will stop at nothing to get into his dream university. He’s conquered his classes and mastered his prep tests, but can he triumph over Improv?

Election

by Susan Pak

Synopsis

A brilliant, apolitical, South Asian surgeon is determined to shake her Bernie-loving boyfriend out of his post-election funk. Unfortunately, he is mired knee-deep in Post Traumatic Trump Disorder. How far will she go to prove that there is life after the election?

A brilliant, apolitical, South Asian surgeon is determined to shake her Bernie-loving boyfriend out of his post-election funk. Unfortunately, he is mired knee-deep in Post Traumatic Trump Disorder. How far will she go to prove that there is life after the election?