Melissa Leilani Larson

Melissa Leilani Larson

MELISSA LEILANI LARSON (playwright) is a mixed-race Filipino writer based in Salt Lake City. Her award-winning work has been seen on five continents. MESTIZA, OR MIXED was commissioned by Plan-B Theatre, where it was first staged in June 2022. Recent productions include a sold-out run of PRIDE & PREJUDICE at the Hale Center Theater Orem; PERSUASION at Utah Valley University; GIN MUMMY at Mesa Community...
MELISSA LEILANI LARSON (playwright) is a mixed-race Filipino writer based in Salt Lake City. Her award-winning work has been seen on five continents. MESTIZA, OR MIXED was commissioned by Plan-B Theatre, where it was first staged in June 2022. Recent productions include a sold-out run of PRIDE & PREJUDICE at the Hale Center Theater Orem; PERSUASION at Utah Valley University; GIN MUMMY at Mesa Community College; THE POST OFFICE at Wayne Theatre; SWEETHEART COME at Tabor College; and BITTER LEMON at Adobe Theatre. RELATIVE SPACE premieres at Creekside Theatre Fest in June and PRIDE & PREJUDICE appears at Texas Shakespeare Festival in July.

Accolades: AATE Distinguished Play Award, IRAM Best New Play award, an NEA production grant, two SLCity Weekly Best of Utah Arts awards, O'Neill semi-finalist, Trustus Festival finalist, Mad Cow Theatre Women's Voices Fest finalist, Mayhew Playwriting award, Lewis National Playwriting Contest for Women prize, a Ghana Movie Award for Best Screenplay, and four Association for Mormon Letters Drama awards. 2018 Smith-Pettit Foundation Award recipient. Mel is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild, Honor Roll! and the Plan-B Playwrights Lab. MFA, Iowa Playwrights Workshop.

Plays

  • Secrets by Melissa Leilani Larson
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: drama, young audiences
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    Keyword: asexuality, teens + 8 more
    Genre: drama, young audiences
    Keyword: asexuality, teens, friendship, dementia, coming out, secrets, nursing home, filipino, grandmothers, mixed-race
    TYA, 10-minute. 16-year-old Rory is figuring out she is ace but is unsure who to talk to about it. Can she trust her mom or her best friend? In the meanwhile, she confides in her grandmother who, because of her dementia, tends to forget.

    **This play was commissioned by Orlando Repertory Theatre, YouthPLAYS, University of Central Florida Psychology and Theatre Departments, and Orange County Public...
    TYA, 10-minute. 16-year-old Rory is figuring out she is ace but is unsure who to talk to about it. Can she trust her mom or her best friend? In the meanwhile, she confides in her grandmother who, because of her dementia, tends to forget.

    **This play was commissioned by Orlando Repertory Theatre, YouthPLAYS, University of Central Florida Psychology and Theatre Departments, and Orange County Public Schools as part of "Mind Matters,” a new mental health and wellness initiative for high school theatre students and educators.
  • A Form of Flattery by Melissa Leilani Larson
    Cast: 
    7
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    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: filipino, immigration + 4 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: filipino, immigration, art, forgery, mother/daughter relationships, citizenship
    Working toward US citizenship and a long awaited reunion with her daughter, Filipino house cleaner Evelyn is unwittingly drawn into an art forgery scheme that could endanger everything—and everyone—she loves. *early draft* *in development*
  • Gin Mummy by Melissa Leilani Larson
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    8
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    Genre: comedy, farce + 2 more
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    Keyword: Marriage of Convenience, Victorian England + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, farce, melodrama, period
    Keyword: Marriage of Convenience, Victorian England, comedy of manners, mummy, Ancient Egypt, High Society, Oscar Wilde, Egyptomania, LGBTQ
    GIN MUMMY is a drawing room comedy in which a young Victorian aristocrat comes to terms with what she wants and what her family expects on the night of her engagement party. Also, there is a mummy.
  • Pride and Prejudice by Melissa Leilani Larson
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    15–17
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    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 3 more
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    Keyword: Jane Austen, love + 7 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, drama, period, romantic comedy
    Keyword: Jane Austen, love, pride, prejudice, Regency England, Classic, romantic comedy, romance, adaptation
    Almost from their first meeting, Elizabeth Bennet finds herself at odds with the reticent Mr. Darcy. She finds him cold and arrogant while he disapproves of her family and social standing. Brought together by events beyond their control, both must reconsider their first impressions. A crisp, new imagining of Jane Austen's most popular classic.
  • Mestiza, or Mixed by Melissa Leilani Larson
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: filipino, mixed-race + 8 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: filipino, mixed-race, Asian American, family, filmmaking, working artists, belonging, second generation Americans, Student debt, mother/daughter relationships
    Mixed Filipino filmmaker Lark Timon is no stranger to failure; it has loomed large throughout her career. Plagued by debt and professional disappointment, Lark chances upon a potentially career-changing opportunity only to be confronted by questions about her art, her relationships and her identity as a queer mestiza.
  • Sweetheart Come by Melissa Leilani Larson
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: drama, horror + 1 more
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    Keyword: writing, letters + 8 more
    Genre: drama, horror, period
    Keyword: writing, letters, Schizophrenia, hypergraphia, hallucinations, marriage, love, mental illness, paper, Germany
    Emma Hauck realizes that her husband's political ambitions are changing him — and their marriage. She finds refuge in her writing, and in the unexpected friendship of a new servant. As both relationships grow more complex, Emma most face difficult truths about herself that she never knew existed. Inspired by a heartbreaking true story, this new play explores the intersection between marriage, illness and...
    Emma Hauck realizes that her husband's political ambitions are changing him — and their marriage. She finds refuge in her writing, and in the unexpected friendship of a new servant. As both relationships grow more complex, Emma most face difficult truths about herself that she never knew existed. Inspired by a heartbreaking true story, this new play explores the intersection between marriage, illness and the power of a pencil. Full-length, no interval. O'Neill Semifinalist.
  • The Post Office by Melissa Leilani Larson
    Cast: 
    11
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    Genre: adaptation, drama + 2 more
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    Keyword: teenagers, illness + 8 more
    Genre: adaptation, drama, fable/folktale, young audiences
    Keyword: teenagers, illness, friendship, Dystopia, Rabindranath Tagore, mail, letters, refugees, non-traditional family, positivity
    **Winner of the 2022 American Alliance for Theatre & Education (AATE) Distinguished Play Award.
    Plagued by a mysterious illness, teenage shut-in Ash longs to see the world. She refuses to be sad, befriending strangers as they parade past her window. A magical and theatrical contemporary adaptation of Rabindranath's Tagore’s classic play. TYA one act. Runs 55 minutes, but a 40-minute version is...
    **Winner of the 2022 American Alliance for Theatre & Education (AATE) Distinguished Play Award.
    Plagued by a mysterious illness, teenage shut-in Ash longs to see the world. She refuses to be sad, befriending strangers as they parade past her window. A magical and theatrical contemporary adaptation of Rabindranath's Tagore’s classic play. TYA one act. Runs 55 minutes, but a 40-minute version is also available for competition. Available for perusal and licensing at YouthPLAYS.com.
  • Persuasion by Melissa Leilani Larson
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    16
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: Jane Austen, adaptation + 6 more
    Genre: adaptation, drama, romantic comedy
    Keyword: Jane Austen, adaptation, romance, memory, flashbacks, love, romantic comedy, redemption
    Adapted from Jane Austen’s beloved final novel, PERSUASION is a bittersweet story of first love and second chances. Anne Elliot, persuaded by duty and title to give up marriage at a younger age, now finds herself face to face with the man she once refused. By turns heartbreaking and hilarious, this new take on Austen’s quiet masterpiece is refreshingly theatrical while remaining faithful to the original text.
  • Mountain Law by Melissa Leilani Larson
    Recommendations: 5
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: drama, faith-based + 1 more
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    Keyword: Western, nature + 8 more
    Genre: drama, faith-based, period
    Keyword: Western, nature, loneliness, infidelity, abandonment, sin, Mormon, polygamy, Survival, Utah
    Winter 1850. Tamson English has been alone with three young children on the Utah frontier for more than a year. Haunted by guilt over an extramarital affair, Tamson convinces herself that God has trapped her in the wilderness as a punishment for her sins. When she prays for a reprieve, an old friend appears at her door—but it’s hard to know if his coming is a miracle or a curse.
  • Pilot Program by Melissa Leilani Larson
    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: Mormon, LDS + 8 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, faith-based
    Keyword: Mormon, LDS, polygamy, women, wives, husband, spouse, marriage, family, infertility
    What if you were called to serve in the restoration of polygamy? You could blog about it. An intimate look at first love, second wives and last chances.

    PILOT PROGRAM is the story of Abigail Husten, a childless woman asked to join her husband in a pilot program restoring polygamy to contemporary LDS/Mormon practice. Abigail brings her friend and former student into her home as her husband's...
    What if you were called to serve in the restoration of polygamy? You could blog about it. An intimate look at first love, second wives and last chances.

    PILOT PROGRAM is the story of Abigail Husten, a childless woman asked to join her husband in a pilot program restoring polygamy to contemporary LDS/Mormon practice. Abigail brings her friend and former student into her home as her husband's plural wife knowing that none of their lives will be the same.
  • Little Happy Secrets by Melissa Leilani Larson
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: drama, faith-based
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    Keyword: LGBTQ, Mormon + 5 more
    Genre: drama, faith-based
    Keyword: LGBTQ, Mormon, LDS, love, female friendship, Radio drama, podcast
    Claire and Brennan have been best friends for years. But when the two are brought back together after two years apart, Claire wonders if the feelings she has for Brennan might go beyond friendship.

    **I now have a 45-50 minute one act version of this play for competition or fringe performances. Email me to request a perusal PDF.
  • The Edible Complex by Melissa Leilani Larson
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    2–3
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    Genre: comedy, young audiences
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    Keyword: Body image, food + 8 more
    Genre: comedy, young audiences
    Keyword: Body image, food, imagination, eating disorders, mother and daughter, self-esteem, cooking, children, tya, health
    One act, TYA. 10-year-old Anna decides to stop eating so that she can look like the women she sees in magazines and on TV. But it's hard to ignore your food when it starts talking to you.
  • Bitter Lemon by Melissa Leilani Larson
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    2
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
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    Keyword: Macbeth, death + 7 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: Macbeth, death, afterlife, bargaining, Relationships, forgiveness, inspired by Shakespeare one act, small cast, fringe show
    One act. Finlay has done Helen a terrible wrong and now they are trapped, alone together, in a strange and empty in-between. What if the only escape is forgiving the unforgivable?

    “Our fears do make us traitors.” ~ Macbeth, Act IV, Scene 2

    **BITTER LEMON was a commission written to serve as a companion piece to the Scottish Play, as well as to accommodate a specific production...
    One act. Finlay has done Helen a terrible wrong and now they are trapped, alone together, in a strange and empty in-between. What if the only escape is forgiving the unforgivable?

    “Our fears do make us traitors.” ~ Macbeth, Act IV, Scene 2

    **BITTER LEMON was a commission written to serve as a companion piece to the Scottish Play, as well as to accommodate a specific production conceit: two different actors perform it cold each night, script in hand, discovering the story and the characters along with the audience. If you read it, please keep the plot secret! The play can also be performed as usual, directed and rehearsed. Please reach out with questions!
  • Martyrs' Crossing by Melissa Leilani Larson
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    8–16
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    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 4 more
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    Keyword: Joan of Arc, France + 8 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, drama, faith-based, period, tragedy
    Keyword: Joan of Arc, France, Hundred Years War, History, saints, faith, library, afterlife, Catherine of Alexandria, Margaret of Antioch
    The story of Catherine, a Christian martyr who, after her death, is assigned to guide a young peasant girl as she becomes the woman history will revere as Joan of Arc. Accompanying Joan throughout her legendary career, Catherine finds that her influence directly affects the girl’s successes and failures. As Joan spirals toward the inevitable, Catherine questions her assignment and, ultimately, her own faith....
    The story of Catherine, a Christian martyr who, after her death, is assigned to guide a young peasant girl as she becomes the woman history will revere as Joan of Arc. Accompanying Joan throughout her legendary career, Catherine finds that her influence directly affects the girl’s successes and failures. As Joan spirals toward the inevitable, Catherine questions her assignment and, ultimately, her own faith.

    2005 IRAM Best New Play.