Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin

Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin

Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin (they/she) is a writer, performer, educator, and new work advocate. Kaela's plays include Tiger Beat (2024 2ST Reading, 2021 Bay Area Playwrights Festival, 2021 Seven Devils Conference finalist), High School Coven (2023 Strand Theatre Baltimore Production, 2017 Corkscrew Festival), Call Out Culture (2022 O'Neill NPC Finalist, 2021 NADIA Festival, 2019 Ars Nova’s ANTFest),...
Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin (they/she) is a writer, performer, educator, and new work advocate. Kaela's plays include Tiger Beat (2024 2ST Reading, 2021 Bay Area Playwrights Festival, 2021 Seven Devils Conference finalist), High School Coven (2023 Strand Theatre Baltimore Production, 2017 Corkscrew Festival), Call Out Culture (2022 O'Neill NPC Finalist, 2021 NADIA Festival, 2019 Ars Nova’s ANTFest), Harpers Ferry 2019 (2022 Know Theatre of Cincinnati production, 2021 Kendeda finalist), and The Well-Tempered Clavier (2020 BAPF finalist, 2019 Paul Stephen Lim Award.) Kaela has received six Kennedy Center awards and has developed work with Breaking the Binary, the Alliance Theater, Gingold Theatrical Group, Exquisite Corpse Company, The Road’s Under Construction Lab, the Coop’s Clusterf*ck, Playground-NY, and Pipeline Theater Company’s Playlab. Commissions include work with Yangtze Rep (Project YZ), EST/Sloan, Montana Repertory Theater, Luna Stage, and College of the Holy Cross. Garvin is the Tank’s 2022 & 2023 Pridefest curator and a founding member of Undiscovered Countries, a Brooklyn-based incubator of new interdisciplinary art. They worked on staff at the Sewanee Writers Conference and as the BAPF Season 45 Play Selection Advisor at the Playwrights Foundation. Kaela has taught playwriting at Cornish College of the Arts, Freehold Theatre, and Indiana University. They currently work as the Programming Associate for the Tank NYC and the Literary Manager for Luna Stage in New Jersey. www.kaelameishinggarvin.com

Plays

  • Tiger Beat by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Recommendations: 7
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: comedy, experimental + 1 more
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    Keyword: pop music, pop star + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, experimental, musical
    Keyword: pop music, pop star, Asian American, artist, music, pop culture, women's rights, 2000s, early 2000s
    Tiger Beat follows the Girls Next Door, a pop group rising to fame in 2003 pop music. As the band juggles choreography, awards shows, and crushes on teen heartthrobs, Asian American singer/songwriter Tess navigates her identity within the framework of the entertainment industry. This play with music ​is a coming of age story about pop stardom, questionable 2003 fashion choices, and finding one's identity through art.
  • High School Coven by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Recommendations: 9
    ·
    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: high school, sexual assault + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, fantasy, horror
    Keyword: high school, sexual assault, witch, feminist, feminism
    TBH high school is v v v hard, especially if you're a witch! Liana, Naomi, Rachel, and Trina form a coven to cope with the pressures of being a teenage girl, like finding the perfect homecoming dress, locating a suitable familiar, and something more sinister -- reporting sexual assault within the education system.
  • Harpers Ferry 2019 by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more
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    Keyword: History, Americana + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, docudrama/historic, political, romantic comedy
    Keyword: History, Americana, Race, American political protest, 19th century America, American Civil War, Harpers Ferry
    In sleepy West Virginia, a love triangle of National Park rangers train to present living history docent material about John Brown’s ill-fated raid on Harpers Ferry one hundred sixty years after the event. When race and politics enter the equation, history repeats itself in a surprising and violent way.
  • Corners Grove by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    15–20
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    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 6 more
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    Keyword: Our Town, Whitney Houston + 6 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, dark comedy, drama, parody/spoof, political, romantic comedy, satire
    Keyword: Our Town, Whitney Houston, gay, Lesbian, Transgender, nonbinary, coming of age, queer
    A reverent nod to Our Town by Thornton Wilder, this play follows a group of young people in the town of Corner’s Grove from high school into adulthood as they deal with leaving home, falling in love, gender identity, and the death of Whitney Houston. It’s a story about growing up and hometowns, friendship and drinking in parking lots.
  • The Bakunawa by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    8
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    Genre: adventure, comedy + 4 more
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    Keyword: magic, breakup
    Genre: adventure, comedy, dark comedy, experimental, fantasy, romantic comedy
    Keyword: magic, breakup
    The Bakunawa is a magical, travel-filled breakup play about love and loss through the lens of a queer interracial couple. When Lester's aunt passes away in the Philippines, his relationship with his boyfriend Andrew deteriorates over time and distance. Formerly titled Butter Knife.
  • The Well-Tempered Clavier by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    8
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: Chinese American, family + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, period, political
    Keyword: Chinese American, family, Latinx, wedding, funeral, love, loss
    The Well-Tempered Clavier is a family comedy about the Choi family over four weddings and a funeral. As white Americans, Japanese Americans, and Mexican Americans marry into the family, the Chois must confront their uniquely Chinese American assimilation and cultural baggage.
  • do this in [x] of me by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 5 more
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    Keyword: memory loss, dementia + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, experimental, fable/folktale, faith-based, science fiction
    Keyword: memory loss, dementia, Catholicism, faith, Computer Science, science fiction, memory play, feminism, women in STEM
    In do this in [x] of me, Aoife and Siobhan navigate technology and memory through Catholic mass and Irish mysticism. This work invokes ritual as it explores the internal experience of memory loss.
  • Tanaka Tree Farm by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: comedy, holiday
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    Keyword: holiday, christmas + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, holiday
    Keyword: holiday, christmas, queer, romantic comedy, Asian American
    Taylor Lao has worked for 10 years at a women’s magazine to their emotional aspiration’s fulfilment and their wallet’s disgrace. Their favorite things feel like a distant memory, especially their best friend Bee Ngo and their high school crush Kevin Tanaka, the hometown golden-boy-basketball-star. But when Taylor loses their job and Kevin’s family Christmas tree farm starts to fail, the solution to keeping in...
    Taylor Lao has worked for 10 years at a women’s magazine to their emotional aspiration’s fulfilment and their wallet’s disgrace. Their favorite things feel like a distant memory, especially their best friend Bee Ngo and their high school crush Kevin Tanaka, the hometown golden-boy-basketball-star. But when Taylor loses their job and Kevin’s family Christmas tree farm starts to fail, the solution to keeping in good graces with their parents is clear: an elaborate holiday ruse to convince everyone they’re in love -- while Taylor is actually falling for Bee.
  • Sense and the City by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: comedy, experimental + 5 more
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    Keyword: Race, New York City + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, experimental, parody/spoof, period, political, romantic comedy, satire
    Keyword: Race, New York City, romantic comedy, romance, Relationships, New York, love triangle, people of color
    Katie Farrington, a bright young magazine writer, loves love, New York, and Jane Austen novels. As she faces pressure from her family to marry after her father’s death, she re-imagines her life as an Austen-esque comedy, just as her close friend, Jim Washington, swears men and women can’t be friends: “women have seen too many romantic comedies and always expect to fall in love.” The play subverts and...
    Katie Farrington, a bright young magazine writer, loves love, New York, and Jane Austen novels. As she faces pressure from her family to marry after her father’s death, she re-imagines her life as an Austen-esque comedy, just as her close friend, Jim Washington, swears men and women can’t be friends: “women have seen too many romantic comedies and always expect to fall in love.” The play subverts and exaggerates romcom conventions while staying true to its somewhat silly spirit: love really can conquer all.
  • Call Out Culture: or, the unbearable whiteness of being by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more
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    Keyword: Asian American, Chinese American + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, political
    Keyword: Asian American, Chinese American, mixed race, postcolonialism, imperialism
    Call Out Culture dissects race, gender, and sexuality through the personal lens of a queer mixed Asian American femme and through the political lens of imperialism. The work threads through personal history: the playwright's grandmother's time in Hong Kong as a result of fleeing Japanese imperialism and subsequent unrest in China as well as their experiences as a mixed person in America and China....
    Call Out Culture dissects race, gender, and sexuality through the personal lens of a queer mixed Asian American femme and through the political lens of imperialism. The work threads through personal history: the playwright's grandmother's time in Hong Kong as a result of fleeing Japanese imperialism and subsequent unrest in China as well as their experiences as a mixed person in America and China. This play invokes postcolonial theory, Brechtian theater practices, and pop culture to get at the connections between harm and healing.
  • Pride and Prejudice by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Recommendations: 4
    ·
    Cast: 
    13–16
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    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: Pride and Prejudice, Austen + 3 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, romantic comedy
    Keyword: Pride and Prejudice, Austen, Jane Austen, adaptation, large cast
    It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. The Bennet family has five eligible daughters, none of them yet married. When new eligible bachelors come to town, Jane Bennet falls for the quiet Mr. Bingley while Lizzy Bennet hates moneyed Mr. Darcy... or does she? A new adaptation of the Jane Austen classic.
  • Emma (!) by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Cast: 
    11
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    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 4 more
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    Keyword: Emma, Jane Austen + 4 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, period, romantic comedy, satire, young audiences
    Keyword: Emma, Jane Austen, adaptation, Classic, England, 19th century women
    Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, has lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her. She considers herself an accomplished matchmaker and loving community member, but her family friend Mr. Knightley thinks she's often misguided. What happens when love finally catches up with Emma? An adaptation of the Jane Austen classic.
  • Haus of Mirth by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 5 more
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    Keyword: feminism, intersectional feminism + 4 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, dark comedy, experimental, political, romantic comedy, science fiction
    Keyword: feminism, intersectional feminism, Edith Wharton, adaptation, American politics, women
    The second Civil War is over, ladies, and the all-female revolution has taken hold. Ethnically ambigulous Lily Bart, born into great privilege but not great bitcoin, must navigate a dangerous world: New York's high society.
  • Julie by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 3 more
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    Keyword: class warfare, eat the rich + 6 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, dark comedy, horror, zoom
    Keyword: class warfare, eat the rich, Strindberg, classism, Miss Julie, adaptation, LGBT, queer
    A loose take on Strindberg’s Miss Julie. Takes place during the first Pride weekend after a long period of confinement. In this adaptation, all the characters are queer, and the class warfare of Strindberg’s original takes a more violent and graphic turn.
  • POLENTA: a space opera by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: comedy, experimental + 4 more
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    Keyword: feminism, feminist + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, experimental, parody/spoof, political, romantic comedy, science fiction
    Keyword: feminism, feminist, Dystopia, women, outer space, women of color, women in science
    In a universe where the earth has become inhospitable, women have created Alternative World 31, an uberfeminist dystopia orbiting through space. Polenta is destined to become the new world’s next singing sensation, but a rebellion creeping up from below has made her an easy target for the current regime, led by the dictatorial superfemme/music industry insider Leaderfriend Carter.
  • Ambition: the female American serial killer musical by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more
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    Keyword: murder
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, musical, period, political
    Keyword: murder
    A musical exploration of three forgotten killer women from American history. Featuring a cutthroat palate of haunting vocals and live instrumentals, Ambition gives voice to a trio of dark, long-silenced stories: those of Belle Gunness, Jane Toppan, and Nannie Doss. After receiving a workshop performance at Dixon Place, one of New York City’s premier downtown theater venues, Ambition played 2016 Planet...
    A musical exploration of three forgotten killer women from American history. Featuring a cutthroat palate of haunting vocals and live instrumentals, Ambition gives voice to a trio of dark, long-silenced stories: those of Belle Gunness, Jane Toppan, and Nannie Doss. After receiving a workshop performance at Dixon Place, one of New York City’s premier downtown theater venues, Ambition played 2016 Planet Connections Theatre Festivity (PCTF), and Ars Nova’s ANT (All New Talent) Fest. It took home three awards at PCTF, including Outstanding Production of a Musical and Outstanding Music and Lyrics.
  • The Ladies' Room by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: comedy, political
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    Keyword: halloween, LGBTQ + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, political
    Keyword: halloween, LGBTQ, queer, African American, Asian American, latina, historical feminism
    On Halloween night, four early-20s coworkers made a pact to go to their local bar as Powerful Historical Women, but one of them shows up dressed as a Sexy Cat. The ensuing melee falls out in the ladies’ room.
  • Audrey on Audrey: Her own self-written Autobiographical Obituary by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    1
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    Genre: biography, dark comedy + 4 more
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    Keyword: History, New York City
    Genre: biography, dark comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, experimental, period
    Keyword: History, New York City
    On (probably) her last day on earth, 104 year-old model-turned-gossip columnist-turned-murder suspect-turned-psychiatric ward tenant Audrey Munson aurally writes her own obituary to anyone who will listen. Based on real-life history and lies, which are basically the same.
  • Saudade by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Recommendations: 4
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: drama, political
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    Keyword: immigration, deportation + 2 more
    Genre: drama, political
    Keyword: immigration, deportation, dramedy, Asian American
    Ten minute one act. Ary and Chea revel in the mundane--dinner plans, recapping work, raising their child day to day--as they face deportation proceedings despite having spent their entire lives in America. A play about family, love, and a longing for a homeland which may never have existed.
  • 等一下 / děng yīxià [wait a little] by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: Surreal, Asian American
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, experimental, fable/folktale
    Keyword: Surreal, Asian American
    Oak and Marbles know how to make things grow, but somehow they keep forgetting. In this surrealist examination of Asian American community building, three generations must figure out how to persevere and survive.
  • Ping Pong Play by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, experimental
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    Keyword: Ping Pong, sports + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, experimental
    Keyword: Ping Pong, sports, nonbinary, Asian American
    During a 1999 table tennis tournament, Yining and Anjali become fast friends. Ping Pong Play non-chronologically follows two Asian femmes' lifelong friendship as they play the sport live, try to maintain their connection, and grow through major life and world changes over eight decades, exploring how macro structures affect micro interpersonal relationships.