Alyssa Haddad-Chin

Alyssa Haddad-Chin

Alyssa Haddad-Chin (she/her) is a Brooklyn-based, mixed race, playwright, screenwriter, and educator from Upstate, NY. Her work has been presented and developed with The Playwrights Realm, New York Theatre Workshop, Moxie Arts NY in residence at WP Theater, B Street Theatre, The Workshop Theater, Art House Productions, The Athena Project, and more.

Her plays have received semi-finalist...
Alyssa Haddad-Chin (she/her) is a Brooklyn-based, mixed race, playwright, screenwriter, and educator from Upstate, NY. Her work has been presented and developed with The Playwrights Realm, New York Theatre Workshop, Moxie Arts NY in residence at WP Theater, B Street Theatre, The Workshop Theater, Art House Productions, The Athena Project, and more.

Her plays have received semi-finalist recognition from the Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, American Blues Theater Blue Ink Award, the Princess Grace Award, The Civilians R&D Group, and twice for the Bay Area Playwright’s Festival. She has been a finalist for The Playwright’s Realm’s 2021 Writing Fellowship, Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Youngblood, and the Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellowship.

She is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild and received her MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She is the Company and Community Manager at Target Margin Theater. alyssahaddad.com

Plays

  • Off-White; Or the Arab House Party Play by Alyssa Haddad-Chin
    Recommendations: 12
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: 9/11, Arab American + 8 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, period
    Keyword: 9/11, Arab American, the 2000s, mixed identity, coming of age, teenage girls, teenagers, party, Y2K, Islamophobia
    Taking place in the early 2000s, Off-White; Or the Arab House Party Play follows Leila, a half white, half Arab-American teen who never felt like an outsider until she's absent from school on 9/11. As her classmates' suspicions of her grow, Leila grapples with the erratic fluctuation of the perception of her identity, so she does what any reasonable high schooler would do to resurrect their reputation...
    Taking place in the early 2000s, Off-White; Or the Arab House Party Play follows Leila, a half white, half Arab-American teen who never felt like an outsider until she's absent from school on 9/11. As her classmates' suspicions of her grow, Leila grapples with the erratic fluctuation of the perception of her identity, so she does what any reasonable high schooler would do to resurrect their reputation - throw the house party of the century.
  • The Ancestry Dot Com Play by Alyssa Haddad-Chin
    Recommendations: 8
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: Ancestry, DNA testing + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: Ancestry, DNA testing, Arab American, American Assimilation, female friendships, mother daughter relationship
    Samia never knew her father, and her secretive Lebanese mother is more interested in watching Wheel of Fortune than providing answers. While she’s proud of her Arab American heritage, Samia wishes she knew more about her family history — until her friend does her DNA test without her consent, making Samia confront just how much knowledge about her ancestry she can handle.
  • The Newlywed Game by Alyssa Haddad-Chin
    Recommendations: 5
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    Cast: 
    8
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    Genre: comedy, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: dating, engagement + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, holiday, romantic comedy
    Keyword: dating, engagement, Thanksgiving, Arab American, Asian American, Italian American, love, family
    A young couple hosts their traditional families for Thanksgiving and drops the bomb that they are engaged, begging the question how do you create a future with someone from an entirely different past?
  • You Should Be So Lucky by Alyssa Haddad-Chin
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, horror + 1 more
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    Keyword: Chinatown, gentrification + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, horror, tragedy
    Keyword: Chinatown, gentrification, magical realism/supernatural, grandparent/granddaughter, Asian American identity, lunar new year
    Poh Poh invites her granddaughter, Jenny, to her apartment to make dumplings for the Lunar New Year. As they prepare, the two begin to discover that changes within Chinatown aren’t leaving space for them.
  • Gentlemen and Ladies by Alyssa Haddad-Chin
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 5 more
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    Keyword: feminism, drag performers + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, farce, parody/spoof, political, satire, tragedy
    Keyword: feminism, drag performers, abuse of power, online community, Toxic Masculinity
    In this satire, a Men’s Rights Activist group meets for the first time, an unlikely new member shakes things up.
  • Peace and Quiet by Alyssa Haddad-Chin
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama
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    Keyword: Alzheimer's Disease, aging + 3 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: Alzheimer's Disease, aging, family, human decline, dementia
    A family must decide what to do with Simon, the patriarch in his 70s suffering from Alzheimer's until his wife decides to take matters into her own hands.
  • WO[MAN] by Alyssa Haddad-Chin
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: comedy, farce + 2 more
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    Keyword: feminism, Politics + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, farce, political, satire
    Keyword: feminism, Politics, women's rights, Middle Eastern Americans
    A United States Government Official and a Father show a Mother how her newborn daughter will be raised.
  • Reflective by Alyssa Haddad-Chin
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama
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    Keyword: body acceptance, body dysmorphia + 2 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: body acceptance, body dysmorphia, high school, teenagers
    A ten-minute play in which Tayla, a 16-year-old high school student faces her insecurities, bullying, and eventual self-acceptance to her own reflection.
  • Thank You and Goodnight by Alyssa Haddad-Chin
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    3–4
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: feminism, comedy club + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, immersive
    Keyword: feminism, comedy club, stand up comedy, Joan Rivers
    Comedy routines in the kitchen aren’t uncommon, but when an aspiring young comic pushes her mother on to the stage, they both learn a lesson about reaching for the stars, and never giving up on their dreams.