Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin

Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin

Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin is a queer mixed Asian American writer, producer, and performer. She is a founding member of Undiscovered Countries, a Brooklyn-based incubator of new and developing interdisciplinary art. She’s a producer and host of Hearabouts, Asian American Midwest Radio based in Bloomington, Indiana. Her essays have appeared on The Clyde Fitch Report, Reappropriate, Lady Parts, and other sites; she’s...
Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin is a queer mixed Asian American writer, producer, and performer. She is a founding member of Undiscovered Countries, a Brooklyn-based incubator of new and developing interdisciplinary art. She’s a producer and host of Hearabouts, Asian American Midwest Radio based in Bloomington, Indiana. Her essays have appeared on The Clyde Fitch Report, Reappropriate, Lady Parts, and other sites; she’s written romance novels for A&E Media and webisodes for Super Deluxe. Her plays have been produced in New York at Ars Nova, Dixon Place, and the New Ohio, among others. Her play The Well-Tempered Clavier won the Kennedy Center's 2019 Paul Stephen Lim Playwriting Award, and her play Butter Knife received three awards from the Kennedy Center in 2018. Kaela is a current MFA playwriting candidate at Indiana University and holds a BFA from NYU. www.kaelameishinggarvin.com | @kaemeishing on IG, Twitter

Plays

  • High School Coven by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Recommendations: 5
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: high school, sexual assault + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, fantasy, horror
    Keyword: high school, sexual assault, witch, teen role, female lead, feminist, femaleplaywright, 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.
  • Corners Grove by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Recommendations: 3
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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 + 5 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, dark comedy, drama, parody/spoof, political, romantic comedy, satire
    Keyword: Our Town, Whitney Houston, gay, Lesbian, trans inclusive, Transgender, coming of age
    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: 1
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    Cast: 
    8
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    Genre: adventure, comedy + 4 more
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    Keyword: magical, breakup
    Genre: adventure, comedy, dark comedy, experimental, fantasy, romantic comedy
    Keyword: magical, 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.
  • Harpers Ferry 2019 by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Recommendations: 1
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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 American history, 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.
  • Haus of Mirth by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 5 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, dark comedy, experimental, political, romantic comedy, science fiction
    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.
  • The Well-Tempered Clavier by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    8
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    Genre: comedy, political
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    Keyword: Chinese American, family + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, 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.
  • POLENTA: a space opera by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, experimental + 4 more
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    Keyword: feminism, feminist + 8 more
    Genre: comedy, experimental, parody/spoof, political, romantic comedy, science fiction
    Keyword: feminism, feminist, Dystopian, sci-fi, women, outer space, play with music, women of color, science fiction, 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.
  • Sense and the City by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: comedy, experimental + 5 more
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    Keyword: Race, New York City + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, experimental, parody/spoof, period, political, romantic comedy, satire
    Keyword: Race, New York City, romantic comedy, Rom-Com, 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.
  • 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, serial killer
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, musical, period, political
    Keyword: murder, serial killer
    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
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    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
    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
    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: drama, political
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    Keyword: ten minute, immigration + 5 more
    Genre: drama, political
    Keyword: ten minute, immigration, deportation, dramedy, ten minute drama, 10 minute play, 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.