Act II by
A genderqueer aspiring playwright finds herself entangled in a play where she’s miscast as a traditional bride, married to a stranger, while being stuck in Act II without the memory of Act I and any knowledge of Act III.
Ai Ebashi
Ai Ebashi
Ai is a Japanese-born playwright, illustrator and multidisciplinary theater-maker who is a winner of the Austin International Poetry Festival, the Leonard Isaacson Award Browning Monologue Contest and the Pick of the Vine Short Play Competition; a finalist of the Eugene O'Neil National Playwright Conference, B3 Theater Festival of Shorts and B-Street Theater’s New Comedy Play Festival; a semifinalist of...
Ai is a Japanese-born playwright, illustrator and multidisciplinary theater-maker who is a winner of the Austin International Poetry Festival, the Leonard Isaacson Award Browning Monologue Contest and the Pick of the Vine Short Play Competition; a finalist of the Eugene O'Neil National Playwright Conference, B3 Theater Festival of Shorts and B-Street Theater’s New Comedy Play Festival; a semifinalist of the Austin Film Festival, the 44th/45th/46th Bay Area Playwrights Festivals and the Beverly Hills Theatre Guild's Julie Harris Playwright Award Competition; and a quarter-finalist of the ScreenCraft Short Film Competition. Ai’s plays have been produced or staged-read at the Aurora Theater, Brava Theater, Shelton Theater, Exit Theater, San Francisco Olympians Festivals, Z-Space, Potrero Stage, PianoFight, Theatre of Yugen, Breach Once More 9x9 Festival, GreenHouse Festival, Little Fish Theater, Odell Johnson Performing Arts Center and Mile High Theater. She holds an M.A. in Creative Writing and an M.F.A. in Playwriting from San Francisco State University where she taught Creative Writing.
Plays
The True Tale of Princess Kaguya by Ai Ebashi
Recommendations: 1··Cast:7Genre: comedy, experimental + 7 more·Keyword: Japanese classical era, Japanese folktale + 3 moreGenre: comedy, experimental, fable/folktale, fantasy, farce, movement/physical, parody/spoof, satire, science fictionKeyword: Japanese classical era, Japanese folktale, interdisciplinary, puppetry, shadow puppetryThe True Tale of Princess Kaguya is a modern retelling of the Japanese classic folklore Kaguya Hime (The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter) written with a feminist twist from a genderqueer perspective. It explores the life of a princess called Kaguya, who was found inside the stalk of a shiny bamboo as a baby. Unlike the original text, in which the beautiful heroine becomes an object of male gaze and male desire, The...The True Tale of Princess Kaguya is a modern retelling of the Japanese classic folklore Kaguya Hime (The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter) written with a feminist twist from a genderqueer perspective. It explores the life of a princess called Kaguya, who was found inside the stalk of a shiny bamboo as a baby. Unlike the original text, in which the beautiful heroine becomes an object of male gaze and male desire, The True Tale of Princess Kaguya centers around an intelligent, eloquent, rebellious tomboy who revolts against traditional gender norms. In this full-length play, Kaguya questions the concept of gender, seeks an identity of her own, and tries to become a whole person without marrying any man, rejecting all the suitors’ advances, including that of the Emperor’s.
Never Mind by Ai Ebashi
·Cast:4Genre: comedy, drama + 2 more·Keyword: Japanese American, Asian immigrant + 1 moreGenre: comedy, drama, experimental, farceKeyword: Japanese American, Asian immigrant, spiritualIrene (née Ai), a 40-year-old Japanese American woman who is fed up with life abandons everything and goes to a spiritual retreat to become “enlightened.” Little does she know that what awaits her when she arrives in the Zen monastery is a situation far worse than the one from which she has escaped: There, she gets stuck with a crazy monk and haunted by a ghost of her grandfather who tries to chop her head off...Irene (née Ai), a 40-year-old Japanese American woman who is fed up with life abandons everything and goes to a spiritual retreat to become “enlightened.” Little does she know that what awaits her when she arrives in the Zen monastery is a situation far worse than the one from which she has escaped: There, she gets stuck with a crazy monk and haunted by a ghost of her grandfather who tries to chop her head off (because she “betrayed” her “own country” and “joined the enemy.”) This play portrays the nightmare of a first-generation immigrant trapped in a surreal, hellish world after she has renounced her name, her native country and even her family, and who, as a result of an unexpected turn of events, comes to reevaluate her identity and life.Throw Away Temple by Ai Ebashi
Recommendations: 1··Cast:6–9Genre: dark comedy, drama + 7 more·Keyword: child prostitution, Japan + 5 moreGenre: dark comedy, drama, experimental, fantasy, horror, mystery/thriller, period, satire, tragedyKeyword: child prostitution, Japan, 18th century women's history, bloody tragedy, dark comedy, puppetry, interdisciplinaryThrow Away Temple takes place in Yoshiwara, a famous government sanctioned red-light district in Edo, present-day Tokyo, in the mid-18th century. It’s about a girl who was sold as an indentured prostitute at age seven and later killed and thrown away at the temple called Jokanji, a.k.a. “Throw Away Temple” (as was the
custom in Edo those days) after having been exploited and beaten to death. She comes...Throw Away Temple takes place in Yoshiwara, a famous government sanctioned red-light district in Edo, present-day Tokyo, in the mid-18th century. It’s about a girl who was sold as an indentured prostitute at age seven and later killed and thrown away at the temple called Jokanji, a.k.a. “Throw Away Temple” (as was the
custom in Edo those days) after having been exploited and beaten to death. She comes back from the dead to seek revenge, killing a man night after night, while facing opposition from ghosts of other dead, thrown-away prostitutes and the priest who wants to bury her to end her sufferings. The play ends in tragedy when she transforms into evil and becomes the cause of the death of not only everyone at the temple and the brothel she used to work at, but also of many innocent people who belong to Yoshiwara.
* Although this story is fiction, it’s based on the historical context, in which estimated 25,000 prostitutes’ bodies are said to have been discarded before being interred at the temple’s cemetery.Puppet Show by Ai Ebashi
·Cast:8–9Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 4 more·Keyword: puppetry, comedy/parody + 3 moreGenre: comedy, dark comedy, experimental, farce, parody/spoof, satireKeyword: puppetry, comedy/parody, Japanese classical era, Japanese Art, absurd comedyPUPPET SHOW is a parody of Bunraku, a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater which was founded in the beginning of the 17th century. The story of PUPPET SHOW revolves around the protagonist Sabu, who one day awakens to the fact that not only is he a puppet and a character in a play, and his life merely a script written by an unknown playwright, but also that he is a tragic hero doomed to die a miserable...PUPPET SHOW is a parody of Bunraku, a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater which was founded in the beginning of the 17th century. The story of PUPPET SHOW revolves around the protagonist Sabu, who one day awakens to the fact that not only is he a puppet and a character in a play, and his life merely a script written by an unknown playwright, but also that he is a tragic hero doomed to die a miserable death in the last scene. But unlike the protagonists in traditional Bunraku plays who end up committing suicide due to their inability to change their fate, Sabu dares to turn around his fortune for the better and to forge his own destiny by taking up his pen and rewriting his story, in which he kills the puppeteers who manipulate him, reinvents himself as a revolutionary and starts an online liberation movement “Puppet Spring.”Not Just a Phase by Ai Ebashi
·Cast:3Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more·Keyword: a short comedy, absurd humorGenre: comedy, dark comedy, experimental, parody/spoof, satireKeyword: a short comedy, absurd humorA woman wants to break up with her husband because she's fallen in love (and been having an affair) with a chair.The Wrong Number by Ai Ebashi
·Cast:2Genre: comedy, experimental + 1 more·Keyword: audio play, telephone playGenre: comedy, experimental, radio dramaKeyword: audio play, telephone playThis comic audio play is an absurd meditation on the subject of missed opportunity or connection. The story begins when a Man receives a phone call only to find out that the Woman, the caller, dialed the wrong number. While they can’t seem to end their conversation, they find themselves attracted to each other. But at the end, words fail, the phone gets disconnected and they forever miss the chance to form a relationship.One Day by Ai Ebashi
·Cast:2Genre: comedy, experimental + 3 more·Keyword: absurdist comedy, surreal comedy + 1 moreGenre: comedy, experimental, fantasy, farce, movement/physicalKeyword: absurdist comedy, surreal comedy, philosophicalA man wants to get rid of his own shadow.A Message from Down There by Ai Ebashi
·Cast:2Genre: comedy, experimental·Keyword: absurd comedyGenre: comedy, experimentalKeyword: absurd comedyA woman who suffers from writer's block is visited by her own pussy.Janus by Ai Ebashi
·Cast:6Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 4 more·Keyword: Greek mythologyGenre: comedy, dark comedy, experimental, fantasy, movement/physical, parody/spoofKeyword: Greek mythologyJanus (the God of beginnings, endings, gates, doorways, passages, time and duality) who lives in the 21st century, suffers from split personality. It was an apocalyptic explosion similar to the Big Bang that caused him to be split in two. As a result, he is no longer a “he,” but became “he” and “she.” Indeed, one of Janus’ faces has always been feminine from the beginning, but that part was suppressed, if not...Janus (the God of beginnings, endings, gates, doorways, passages, time and duality) who lives in the 21st century, suffers from split personality. It was an apocalyptic explosion similar to the Big Bang that caused him to be split in two. As a result, he is no longer a “he,” but became “he” and “she.” Indeed, one of Janus’ faces has always been feminine from the beginning, but that part was suppressed, if not ignored or even erased, so Janus was considered to be solely “he” – that is, until today. The two separated halves or selves of Janus 1) HE Janus and 2) SHE Janus turn against one another as enemies.Reincarnation by Ai Ebashi
·Cast:4–5Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more·Keyword: contains LGBTQ character, Asian immigrant + 1 moreGenre: comedy, dark comedy, experimental, fantasy, farceKeyword: contains LGBTQ character, Asian immigrant, Japanese AmericanAfter her divorce, she is reborn as “Sakura Yoshida”: She moves to San Francisco, becomes a yoga instructor and self-publishes a memoir in order to rewrite her past and change her identity. She lives with her new partner Marika and entirely transforms herself into a brand-new “I”. Everything goes fine and she is happy with the fictitious personality she has created for herself… Until one day, she is visited by...After her divorce, she is reborn as “Sakura Yoshida”: She moves to San Francisco, becomes a yoga instructor and self-publishes a memoir in order to rewrite her past and change her identity. She lives with her new partner Marika and entirely transforms herself into a brand-new “I”. Everything goes fine and she is happy with the fictitious personality she has created for herself… Until one day, she is visited by a strange man called Mr. Z, who knows all her secrets...Deirdre the Queer Queen by Ai Ebashi
Recommendations: 1··Cast:9Genre: adaptation, comedy + 8 more·Keyword: feminism, LGBTQ + 5 moreGenre: adaptation, comedy, dark comedy, experimental, fable/folktale, fantasy, farce, parody/spoof, political, satireKeyword: feminism, LGBTQ, drag, Ancient Greek Myth, Celtic Mythology, ancient gods, mythology*Deirdre, best-known by the epithet “Deirdre of the Sorrows,” is the foremost tragic heroine in Irish mythology. (She ends up committing suicide in order to escape a forced marriage with the old King Conchobar.)
Ai’s play Deirdre begins where the existing story ends: The now-dead Deidre arrives in the Underworld where she meets other female mythological figures, who have also been victims of...*Deirdre, best-known by the epithet “Deirdre of the Sorrows,” is the foremost tragic heroine in Irish mythology. (She ends up committing suicide in order to escape a forced marriage with the old King Conchobar.)
Ai’s play Deirdre begins where the existing story ends: The now-dead Deidre arrives in the Underworld where she meets other female mythological figures, who have also been victims of misogynistic ideology: Izanami, the Goddess of Death (in Japanese mythology,) Eurydice, an oak nymph and Orpheus’ wife (in Greek mythology,) and Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld and Hades’ wife (in Greek mythology,) are there, all having been abandoned and confined by their husbands. It’s a story about friendship among the women/goddesses from different cultures and traditions (who however share similar experiences) and their struggles to rise above the pain, rage and humiliation and to resist and fight their ill-starred destinies.Sabu's Awakening by Ai Ebashi
·Cast:5Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 5 more·Keyword: bunraku, Japanese + 1 moreGenre: comedy, dark comedy, experimental, fantasy, farce, parody/spoof, satireKeyword: bunraku, Japanese, puppetrySabu, a Bunraku puppet, awakens to the fact that he's a puppet manipulated by puppeteers.The Last Humans by Ai Ebashi
·Cast:2–4Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more·Keyword: absurd comedy, comic surrealismGenre: comedy, dark comedy, experimental, fantasy, satireKeyword: absurd comedy, comic surrealismAfter climate crisis destroyed Earth, he last surviving couple (husband and wife) still live their lives as if nothing had happened.The Tale of Lady Murasaki by Ai Ebashi
·Cast:2Genre: drama, period·Keyword: Japanese history, A woman struggling to find her own voiceGenre: drama, periodKeyword: Japanese history, A woman struggling to find her own voiceA story about Murasaki Shikibu, a Japanese novelist, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial Court in the Heian Period.The Pursuit of Happiness by Ai Ebashi
·Cast:2Genre: comedy, experimental + 2 more·Keyword: absurdist comedy, existential comedyGenre: comedy, experimental, fantasy, satireKeyword: absurdist comedy, existential comedyIn a forest, a man meets a woman who lost her happiness. Together, they embark on a journey in pursuit of the lost happiness...Reversi by Ai Ebashi
·Cast:2Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more·Keyword: Surrealism, absurdist comedy + 3 moreGenre: comedy, dark comedy, experimental, fantasy, farceKeyword: Surrealism, absurdist comedy, spirituality, yoga, meditationAn issei woman full of anger and regrets tries to meditate herself into nothingness when she is visited by her alter-ego or dark side, who does everything to take over her existence.Lost and Lost by Ai Ebashi
·Cast:8–11Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more·Keyword: absurd comedyGenre: comedy, dark comedy, experimental, political, satireKeyword: absurd comedyWhen Mari Wall, 28, loses her ID card nobody believes she is who she says she is anymore. What follows is a series of hard-to believe events: She is arrested and put to death, and finally sent to Hell on the charge of identity fraud. But that’s neither the end, nor the worst part, of the story, for even in her afterlife, she is denied entry by the gatekeeper who works for “Hell Customs and Border Protection”...When Mari Wall, 28, loses her ID card nobody believes she is who she says she is anymore. What follows is a series of hard-to believe events: She is arrested and put to death, and finally sent to Hell on the charge of identity fraud. But that’s neither the end, nor the worst part, of the story, for even in her afterlife, she is denied entry by the gatekeeper who works for “Hell Customs and Border Protection” and deported back to life. This play is about the nightmare of a woman condemned to existential anxieties after her ID has “dumped her” and who, as a result of her sudden loss of self, comes to reevaluate her own life.When the Moon Comes Down by Ai Ebashi
·Cast:2Genre: comedy, experimental + 2 more·Keyword: full moon, womanhood + 4 moreGenre: comedy, experimental, fantasy, movement/physicalKeyword: full moon, womanhood, coming of age in a world of magical realism, age gap relationship, unusual friendships, growing upThe Moon and a teenager girl forms an unusual friendship, discussing love, life and what it means to exist.