Lyra Nalan

Lyra Nalan

Lyra Nalan is a China-born playwright based in the East Coast. She is a recipient of the Judith Royer Excellence in Playwriting Award, Miranda Theatre Playwrights Grant, and Horticultural Playwrights Workshop Fellowship. Recently she is nominated for NNPN's Smith Prize for Political Theatre. In 2021, she was nominated for Susan Blackburn Smith Prize. In 2019, she was a finalist for Playwrights' Center...
Lyra Nalan is a China-born playwright based in the East Coast. She is a recipient of the Judith Royer Excellence in Playwriting Award, Miranda Theatre Playwrights Grant, and Horticultural Playwrights Workshop Fellowship. Recently she is nominated for NNPN's Smith Prize for Political Theatre. In 2021, she was nominated for Susan Blackburn Smith Prize. In 2019, she was a finalist for Playwrights' Center Core Apprenticeship, and semi-finalist for O’Neil National Playwrights Conference. Her work had been developed and showcased at the Kennedy Center, Cherry Lane Theatre, Round House Theatre, Spooky Action Theatre, Miranda Theatre, Avant Bard Theatre, Tradewind Arts, Three Cats Productions, and more. She's currently under commission from Adventure Theatre MTC and Silk Road Rising Theatre. received her MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage from Northwestern University.

Plays

  • Paper Dreams by Lyra Nalan
    Recommendations: 4
    ·
    Cast: 
    6–7
    ·
    Genre: drama, fantasy + 4 more
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    Keyword: asian, all female leads + 8 more
    Genre: drama, fantasy, mystery/thriller, period, political, tragedy
    Keyword: asian, all female leads, chinese, Chinese American, immigration, ghost, 1930s immigrant, Mother Daughter, Chinese poetry, female playwright
    In the 1930’s, a Chinese woman trying to bring her daughter to the US finds herself trapped on Angel Island Immigration Station, where a mysterious creature guides her towards truths she had long since given up on.
    Paper Dreams reckons with the spectre of nationalism that still stalks immigrants at America’s borders by examining the ghosts of our past, present, and future.
  • A fork, a cat, and an old man by Lyra Nalan
    Cast: 
    3–5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: a different fairytale, nostalgia + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, fable/folktale, fantasy, movement/physical
    Keyword: a different fairytale, nostalgia, loneliness, yearning, melancholy, comedy, storytelling
    A twisted fork, a grumpy cat and a pensive old man form a pseudo family and debate how they should live their best lives in the late capitalistic world.
  • The Peachlanders by Lyra Nalan
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: adventure, drama + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: asian, all female leads + 8 more
    Genre: adventure, drama, fantasy, political, tragedy
    Keyword: asian, all female leads, China, U.S., moral dilemma, family, environment, mortality, escapism, features LGBTQ characters
    Two rivalry friends in America discover a strange fable land where everyone lives a long, youthful, and non-competitive life. But their influence changes the land and its people for the worse. The Peachlander explores how individual desires weighed against the collective good.
  • Blue Moon by Lyra Nalan
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: drama, political + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: Dystopia, female lead + 8 more
    Genre: drama, political, tragedy
    Keyword: Dystopia, female lead, high school, girls, mind-control, female friendship, betrayal, love, a political, romance
    In a society where people are required to wear a device to monitor harmful emotions and irregular heartbeat, an inquisitive teen girl starts to realize the conniving nature of the device after befriending a boy with a bad reputation. However, as she devotes herself to unveil the scheme of the device to the people, she has more doubt in what to believe, and whom to believe.​
  • The Legend of Nezha by Lyra Nalan
    Cast: 
    4–6
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, adventure + 6 more
    ·
    Keyword: tya, Chinese mythology + 2 more
    Genre: adaptation, adventure, comedy, fable/folktale, fantasy, period, political, young audiences
    Keyword: tya, Chinese mythology, comedy, child hero
    In the time of Chaos, a powerful goddess decides to create a hero to fix her terrible mistake. Thus a gifted child is born to a mortal family to save the world, but he turns out to be a spoiled little brat who brings nothing but more troubles…
  • World Behind the Fence by Lyra Nalan
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: drama, immersive + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: all female cast, mother and daughter + 1 more
    Genre: drama, immersive, political
    Keyword: all female cast, mother and daughter, abusive relationship
    A innocent young woman lives a simple life with her mother in a garden until one day she encounters a stranger who makes her realize that she has been kept in a cage... World Behind the Fence is a one-act play exploring abusive relationship and the power of conditioning.
  • Steakhouse by Lyra Nalan
    Cast: 
    2–3
    ·
    Genre: mystery/thriller
    ·
    Keyword: absurdism, Cyberbullying
    Genre: mystery/thriller
    Keyword: absurdism, Cyberbullying
    A young influencer encounters a man in the steakhouse who captivates her with dark tales of teen cyberbully.
  • THE GOLDEN SON by Lyra Nalan
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: drama, political + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: mother and son, family + 7 more
    Genre: drama, political, tragedy
    Keyword: mother and son, family, China, eastwest, cultural differences, cousins, intergenerational conflicts, tragicomedy, asian
    Follow the journey of a Chinese son as his scandalous cousin
    pays him a sudden visit before his wedding night. Witness the
    golden son’s dilemma unfold as he faces clashes between
    traditional Confucian values and Western notions of
    individuality.
  • The Snow Zither by Lyra Nalan
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: tya, girl + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, fable/folktale, fantasy, young audiences
    Keyword: tya, girl, goddess, mythology, loss, accepting death, cat, courage, sacrifice
    A girl moves the Snow Goddess with her beautiful music, so the goddess helps her travel to the underworld to see her grandfather one last time, with her opinionated cat.
  • The Peony Soul by Lyra Nalan
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: adventure, drama + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: Mental Health, asian + 7 more
    Genre: adventure, drama, fable/folktale, fantasy, young audiences
    Keyword: Mental Health, asian, Young actors, tya, A fairy tale, chinese, friendship, love, sacrifice
    A nine-year-old girl learns to take care of her mother who suffers a chronic mental illness with the help of a Peony Fairy. ​