Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters

Stephanie is a half-Korean, Philadelphia-based, hyphen-supporting playwright. Stephanie writes hyper contemporary, magical realism plays, built on the pillars of laughter, curiosity and whimsy. She describes her work as "Charles Mee, David Henry Hwang, Twyla Tharp, Amy Tan, and Mariah Carey walk into a bar".

Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters (she/her) is the Philadelphia Theatre Company Terrence McNally Award Recipient for her play, Acetone Wishes and Plexiglass Dreams. She’s a recent alum of InterAct Theatre Core Playwright, a current American Theatre Group PlayLab artist, and serves as the Lead Artist on the Philly Asian Performing Artists’ Playwrights Project.

Her play, Esther Choi and the Fish that Drowned will have a world premiere production with Simpatico Theatre Company (postponed...

Stephanie is a half-Korean, Philadelphia-based, hyphen-supporting playwright. Stephanie writes hyper contemporary, magical realism plays, built on the pillars of laughter, curiosity and whimsy. She describes her work as "Charles Mee, David Henry Hwang, Twyla Tharp, Amy Tan, and Mariah Carey walk into a bar".

Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters (she/her) is the Philadelphia Theatre Company Terrence McNally Award Recipient for her play, Acetone Wishes and Plexiglass Dreams. She’s a recent alum of InterAct Theatre Core Playwright, a current American Theatre Group PlayLab artist, and serves as the Lead Artist on the Philly Asian Performing Artists’ Playwrights Project.

Her play, Esther Choi and the Fish that Drowned will have a world premiere production with Simpatico Theatre Company (postponed due to COVID-19) and has earned her a spot on the 2020 Kilroys List and Table Work Press Recommended list. Her play Acetone Wishes and Plexiglass Dreams was recently workshopped at the UC Santa Barbara Launch Pad BIPOC Reading Series and will be featured at the Great Plains Theatre Conference in June 2022. Her play Half of Chopsticks was a finalist for both the 2021 Bay Area Playwrights Festival and Seven Devils New Plays Conference, and received a stage reading at the inaugural Boise Contemporary Theatre BIPOC Playwrights Festival.

Stephanie’s K-pop romcom, Be Like the Flower, was a finalist for the Austin Film Festival’s Table Read My Screenplay. She is a two-time finalist for Unicorn Theatre’s In-Progress New Play Reading Series as well as a finalist for the Playwrights Center Many Voices Fellow. She was a semi-finalist for Nashville Repertory Theater's Ingram New Works and received a nomination for the NNPN Smith Prize for Political Theatre. Due to COVID-19, Stephanie received a 3Views Theatre The Bret Adams and Paul Reisch Foundation Grant Recipient. Additional plays have been developed with Asian Arts Initiative, Philly Asian American Film Festival, Dragon’s Eye Theatre, Revolution Shakespeare, PlayPenn, Revamp Collective, and Philadelphia Women’s Theatre Festival. Stephanie is a proud graduate of Bucknell University and received her MFA in Playwriting from Point Park University.

As Lead Artist of the Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists Playwrights Project, she led a two week long festival of plays written by local emerging Asian-American playwrights, the first of its kind in Philadelphia. Stephanie helped to found the Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists in an effort to create change and opportunity for AAPI performers and stories. She wants to help fill the desperate need and incredible opportunity for Asian American actors to explore stories written for them and about their experiences and their cultural heritage by Asian American playwrights.

She has taught playwriting at Bucknell University, Northwestern University's National High School Institute Cherub Program, PlayPenn, Arden Theatre, and Theatre Exile. Stephanie is a proud graduate of Bucknell University, London Dramatic Academy, and CAP21. She received her MFA in Writing for Screen and Stage with Point Park University.

Stephanie is also a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association and Barrymore nominated actress.

Scripts

Acetone Wishes and Plexiglass Dreams

by Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters

Synopsis

Celina has moved home to Philly’s Koreatown to take over the neighborhood beauty salon. DIY reno keeps her busy, but discovering a secret about her high school buddy, Inky, and gossiping chorus of aunties and uncles keeps her busier. However, Celina has a secret of her own; a secret that dragged her across the country, only to return home empty handed. Will Celina prevent the rumors, ghosts, and aunties from...

Celina has moved home to Philly’s Koreatown to take over the neighborhood beauty salon. DIY reno keeps her busy, but discovering a secret about her high school buddy, Inky, and gossiping chorus of aunties and uncles keeps her busier. However, Celina has a secret of her own; a secret that dragged her across the country, only to return home empty handed. Will Celina prevent the rumors, ghosts, and aunties from chaining her down or will she drag Inky into the dark web she’s brought home?

Half of Chopsticks

by Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters

Synopsis

Emmy Young’s dad was the King of Koreatown until the day he was swallowed by a hole. It’s not just the ghost of her dad that cracks the plaster off the walls of Young’s Chopsticks - Traditional Korean Take Out and Delivery. When Emmy’s half-secret, half-white, half-brother shows up with half the deed to her dead dad’s restaurant, everything Emmy knew about her home begins to crumble.

Emmy Young’s dad was the King of Koreatown until the day he was swallowed by a hole. It’s not just the ghost of her dad that cracks the plaster off the walls of Young’s Chopsticks - Traditional Korean Take Out and Delivery. When Emmy’s half-secret, half-white, half-brother shows up with half the deed to her dead dad’s restaurant, everything Emmy knew about her home begins to crumble.

Esther Choi and the Fish that Drowned

by Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters

Synopsis

***NEWLY AND HEAVILY REVISED AS OF JULY 203***
Esther Choi is your favorite all-American, overachieving-Asian teen except she has a ghost. Sunny is Esther’s “home” friend and (spoiler alert) he’s dead. Mr. Choi is Esther’s grandfather and he owns a haunted dry cleaner on Cheltenham Ave. In an (un)likely turn of events, Esther must grapple with grief, loneliness, and winning first chair in high school orchestra...

***NEWLY AND HEAVILY REVISED AS OF JULY 203***
Esther Choi is your favorite all-American, overachieving-Asian teen except she has a ghost. Sunny is Esther’s “home” friend and (spoiler alert) he’s dead. Mr. Choi is Esther’s grandfather and he owns a haunted dry cleaner on Cheltenham Ave. In an (un)likely turn of events, Esther must grapple with grief, loneliness, and winning first chair in high school orchestra, all while decoding Sunny’s reasons for ignoring her at school, but being besties on the block.

Whispers of My Sister

by Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters

Synopsis

Something’s not right with Yoon-Ah. The normally indomitable matriarch has been jumping at shadows and blurring memories from Korean burial grounds with her suburban American kitchen. It’s got her daughter Kaia worried enough to call her estranged sister Jessica home. The daughters are convinced it’s all in Yoon-Ah’s head—until a figure materializes in the light of the refrigerator. Who will see the ghosts of...

Something’s not right with Yoon-Ah. The normally indomitable matriarch has been jumping at shadows and blurring memories from Korean burial grounds with her suburban American kitchen. It’s got her daughter Kaia worried enough to call her estranged sister Jessica home. The daughters are convinced it’s all in Yoon-Ah’s head—until a figure materializes in the light of the refrigerator. Who will see the ghosts of the past? And how long will the ghosts stay?

Come to Me, Cling to You

by Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters

Synopsis

After a lifetime of sacrificial selflessness, Mi-Young Han finally grabs hold of her life, resulting in a violent attempt on her life, a disruption in the harmony with her mother, and remorse from her friends. Told through shifting memories, they relive the moments leading up to the assault. However, no matter how the story gets told, one fact remains constant, Mi-Young is in this bed because of her mother…and...

After a lifetime of sacrificial selflessness, Mi-Young Han finally grabs hold of her life, resulting in a violent attempt on her life, a disruption in the harmony with her mother, and remorse from her friends. Told through shifting memories, they relive the moments leading up to the assault. However, no matter how the story gets told, one fact remains constant, Mi-Young is in this bed because of her mother…and her best friend.

Are You My Father or the dream ballet of north korea

by Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters

Synopsis

Are You My Father is a political comedy exploring love and coming of age in one of the world’s most mysterious nations. Meet North Korean elite Min-Jun as she struggles with understanding freedom, disappointing family and dreaming about Kim Il-Sung. Min-Jun’s world is rocked when she is magically spirited away to South Korea.

Are You My Father is a political comedy exploring love and coming of age in one of the world’s most mysterious nations. Meet North Korean elite Min-Jun as she struggles with understanding freedom, disappointing family and dreaming about Kim Il-Sung. Min-Jun’s world is rocked when she is magically spirited away to South Korea.

Keep Me Posted

by Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters

Synopsis

Celeste Moon, a hyper-trendy Insta-famous poet, is new to internet fame. Followed on social media and IRL, Celeste is no stranger to looking over her shoulder. But after a series of mysteriously specific packages fall into her hands, she is forced to face her stalker. Will he ghost her or haunt her? Keep Me Posted examines the presence of technology in contemporary society and the struggles of online dating.

Celeste Moon, a hyper-trendy Insta-famous poet, is new to internet fame. Followed on social media and IRL, Celeste is no stranger to looking over her shoulder. But after a series of mysteriously specific packages fall into her hands, she is forced to face her stalker. Will he ghost her or haunt her? Keep Me Posted examines the presence of technology in contemporary society and the struggles of online dating.

The Elvis Administration

by Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters

Synopsis

A whimsical look at love and where we belong through the eyes of Crab Girl, Turtle Man, Elvis, and Kim Jong-Il. This teenage girl's tumbler page meets Korean drama is a playful way of examining new landscapes of the heart. A "Love Actually" for the brokenhearted.

A whimsical look at love and where we belong through the eyes of Crab Girl, Turtle Man, Elvis, and Kim Jong-Il. This teenage girl's tumbler page meets Korean drama is a playful way of examining new landscapes of the heart. A "Love Actually" for the brokenhearted.

The Wall with Four Eyes

by Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters

Synopsis

A ten-minute play exploring art and the way people want to be seen by others. Physical perception from the point of view of the powerful.
Meet Kim Jong-il and a painter, as they share North Korean folklore and re-imagined classical art.

A ten-minute play exploring art and the way people want to be seen by others. Physical perception from the point of view of the powerful.
Meet Kim Jong-il and a painter, as they share North Korean folklore and re-imagined classical art.

Follow Me Through the Gates

by Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters

Synopsis

Ty has lived in America her whole life, a whole 8 years! Her grandfather has not; he was born in China. Grandfather talks about China a lot, a whole lot. Ty doesn't know much about China. She thinks Grandfather doesn't know much about her.
Azsori has lived in America her whole life, a whole 9 years! She doesn’t know much about living someplace else, but she knows a whole lot about feeling like she doesn't...

Ty has lived in America her whole life, a whole 8 years! Her grandfather has not; he was born in China. Grandfather talks about China a lot, a whole lot. Ty doesn't know much about China. She thinks Grandfather doesn't know much about her.
Azsori has lived in America her whole life, a whole 9 years! She doesn’t know much about living someplace else, but she knows a whole lot about feeling like she doesn't always fit in where she lives.
But this Saturday, someone goes missing in the library and everything is about to change, a whole lot.
Help Ty, Grandfather, Azsori, and their favorite librarian, Ms. Layla, on their quest for knowledge and acceptance through the walls of the Independence branch of the Free Library – an adventure of exploring your roots and finding your family. ​

Best enjoyed by children ages 5 to 10 & their adults.