Susan Soon He Stanton

Susan Soon He Stanton is a playwright, television writer, and screenwriter living between New York and London, originally from 'Aiea, Hawai'i. Awards and honors include Leah Ryan FEWW, Kilroys' List 2015-2017. She is an inaugural recipient of the Venturous Playwrights Fellowship with the Lark, and an inaugural recipient of the Lark's Van Lier Fellowship. She is a two-time Sundance Institute's Theater Lab Resident Playwright. Writing groups and residencies past and present include New Dramatists, Playwrights Center Core Writer Fellowship, the Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group at Primary Stages, Public Theater's Emerging Writers Group, SoHo Rep Writer-Director Lab, The Women's Project Lab, P73's Interstate 73, Berkeley Rep Ground Floor, MaYi Playwrights Lab, The Civilians R&D Group...

Susan Soon He Stanton is a playwright, television writer, and screenwriter living between New York and London, originally from 'Aiea, Hawai'i. Awards and honors include Leah Ryan FEWW, Kilroys' List 2015-2017. She is an inaugural recipient of the Venturous Playwrights Fellowship with the Lark, and an inaugural recipient of the Lark's Van Lier Fellowship. She is a two-time Sundance Institute's Theater Lab Resident Playwright. Writing groups and residencies past and present include New Dramatists, Playwrights Center Core Writer Fellowship, the Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group at Primary Stages, Public Theater's Emerging Writers Group, SoHo Rep Writer-Director Lab, The Women's Project Lab, P73's Interstate 73, Berkeley Rep Ground Floor, MaYi Playwrights Lab, The Civilians R&D Group, Hedgebrook, One Coast Collaboration, and more.

Commissions from theaters include Yale Repertory Theatre, American Conservatory Theater/Crowded Fire, South Coast Repertory, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Kumu Kahua Theater, Live Source, New Sounds Theatre, Honolulu Theatre for Youth, Second Generation, and others.

She has taught playwriting at UT Austin's MFA Program, SUNY Purchase, New York University, Yale University, as well as various other theatres and institutions regionally and internationally.

She received a Feature Film Development Grant and Screenwriting Award from the Sloan Foundation, and a Leviathan Lab Film Production Grant. Films include Bushwick Beats, Dress (winner of 2014 Hawai'i International Film Festival Audience Award), Dispatched, Good House, and Same Will. She wrote a comedic mini-series called We Are the Interns.

Susan is a producer/writer HBO’s Succession, for which she has won a WGA and Peabody Award. Upcoming television work includes HBO/Sister Picture's THE BABY, Amazon’s Modern Love, Amazon/Annapurna's Dead Ringers, Hulu/Element Pictures/BBC's Conversation with Friends adapted from the novel by Sally Rooney, as well as several projects in development.

Susan holds a BFA from NYU Tisch's Dramatic Writing program and an MFA from Yale School of Drama, where she received the Audrey Woods Fellowship and the Eugene O'Neill Memorial Scholarship.

* For script requests, please contact agent.

Scripts

ʻŌʻōkala 100

by Susan Soon He Stanton

Synopsis

One black night, near an old abandoned plantation town by the sea, two cousins lost in the darkness unknowingly cross a supernatural threshold. In Hawaiian mythology, leina (the ‘leaping place’) were believed to be portals to another world. After the cousins cross over a supernatural threshold, they encounter ghosts from different backgrounds and time periods over the past 100 years of Hawaiʻi’s history gather...

One black night, near an old abandoned plantation town by the sea, two cousins lost in the darkness unknowingly cross a supernatural threshold. In Hawaiian mythology, leina (the ‘leaping place’) were believed to be portals to another world. After the cousins cross over a supernatural threshold, they encounter ghosts from different backgrounds and time periods over the past 100 years of Hawaiʻi’s history gather nearby reliving moments of pain and joy in their life.

Moana JR

by Susan Soon He Stanton

Synopsis

Disney’s Moana JR. is a 60-minute musical adaptation of the 2016 Disney animated film, bringing the adventures of Moana and her village of Motunui to life onstage. Moana JR. features all the beloved songs from the film, written by Tony®, GRAMMY, Emmy, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa’i, and Mark Mancina, including “How Far I’ll Go,” “Shiny,” and “You’re Welcome.”

This...

Disney’s Moana JR. is a 60-minute musical adaptation of the 2016 Disney animated film, bringing the adventures of Moana and her village of Motunui to life onstage. Moana JR. features all the beloved songs from the film, written by Tony®, GRAMMY, Emmy, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa’i, and Mark Mancina, including “How Far I’ll Go,” “Shiny,” and “You’re Welcome.”

This thrilling and heartwarming coming-of-age story follows the strong-willed Moana as she sets sail across the Pacific to save her village and discover the truth about her heritage. Moana and the legendary demigod Maui embark on an epic journey of self-discovery and camaraderie as both learn to harness the power that lies within. With empowering messages of bravery and selflessness, Moana JR. is sure to bring out the hero within each of us.

Celebrating the rich history of Oceania and based on the beliefs and cultures of the people of the Pacific Islands, Moana was developed in collaboration with an Oceanic Trust – a group of anthropologists, cultural practitioners, historians, linguists, and choreographers from the Pacific Islands. The same respect and attention to detail used to develop the film was carried forward in the creation of this stage adaptation, with a host of cultural resources available in the ShowKit® materials.

Music and Lyrics by Opetaia Foa'i Mark Mancina Lin-Manuel Miranda
JR. Script Adaptation by Susan Soon He Stanton
JR. Score Adaptation and Arrangements & Orchestrations by Ian Weinberger

we, the invisibles

by Susan Soon He Stanton

Synopsis

In 2011, the director of the International Monetary Fund was accused of sexual assault by a hotel maid, Nafissatou Diallo, but all charges were dismissed. we, the invisibles introduces hotel workers like Diallo who have come to New York from all over the globe. This play is an investigation of the complicated relationship between the movers and shakers and the people who change their sheets.

In 2011, the director of the International Monetary Fund was accused of sexual assault by a hotel maid, Nafissatou Diallo, but all charges were dismissed. we, the invisibles introduces hotel workers like Diallo who have come to New York from all over the globe. This play is an investigation of the complicated relationship between the movers and shakers and the people who change their sheets.

Today Is My Birthday

by Susan Soon He Stanton

Synopsis

Emily is a would-be writer whose bubble life in NYC has popped. Finding life back home chaotic and unfulfilling, she becomes strangely activated after creating a sassy alter-ego for a radio bit. Told through a playful mixture of live radio, voicemail, and phone calls, Today Is My Birthday is a quirky comedy about life with a thousand friends on Facebook and no one to have dinner with on Saturday night.

Emily is a would-be writer whose bubble life in NYC has popped. Finding life back home chaotic and unfulfilling, she becomes strangely activated after creating a sassy alter-ego for a radio bit. Told through a playful mixture of live radio, voicemail, and phone calls, Today Is My Birthday is a quirky comedy about life with a thousand friends on Facebook and no one to have dinner with on Saturday night.

Both Your Houses

by Susan Soon He Stanton

Synopsis

Romances blossom, resentments fester, and rumors spread backstage during the final performance of Romeo and Juliet. Both Your Houses shines a spotlight on life in a regional theater, the #MeToo movement, and what it means to raise your voice.

Romances blossom, resentments fester, and rumors spread backstage during the final performance of Romeo and Juliet. Both Your Houses shines a spotlight on life in a regional theater, the #MeToo movement, and what it means to raise your voice.

TAKARAZUKA!!!

by Susan Soon He Stanton

Synopsis

Yuko is the Top Star of the Takarazuka, an all-female Japanese performance troupe, that has put on lavishly staged spectacles for decades. Facing retirement, Yuko begins to be haunted by the ghost of a former top star. Mysterious events happen at the theater as Yuko’s sayonara performance looms and a new star is set to rise to the top.

Yuko is the Top Star of the Takarazuka, an all-female Japanese performance troupe, that has put on lavishly staged spectacles for decades. Facing retirement, Yuko begins to be haunted by the ghost of a former top star. Mysterious events happen at the theater as Yuko’s sayonara performance looms and a new star is set to rise to the top.

The Things Are Against Us [Les Choses Sont Contre Nous]

by Susan Soon He Stanton

Synopsis

Lorca. Two sisters, one claw-foot bathtub, and a young man trying to unearth the dark secrets of his grandfather’s past. All roads lead to a mysterious house with a mind of its own. There are bones in the basement and creaking within. The Spreckle house invites you to spend the night.

Lorca. Two sisters, one claw-foot bathtub, and a young man trying to unearth the dark secrets of his grandfather’s past. All roads lead to a mysterious house with a mind of its own. There are bones in the basement and creaking within. The Spreckle house invites you to spend the night.

SOLSTICE PARTY

by Susan Soon He Stanton

Synopsis

A group of friends gather to celebrate the Summer Solstice in the deep Upstate New York woods behind an old farmhouse. What begins as a casual, fun weekend quickly devolves into something more sinister; a power-struggle and then a game of survival that is by turns bizarre and shocking. Written as a Jonestown parable for the Trump era, playwright Susan Soon He Stanton explores themes of "group-think" and betrayal...

A group of friends gather to celebrate the Summer Solstice in the deep Upstate New York woods behind an old farmhouse. What begins as a casual, fun weekend quickly devolves into something more sinister; a power-struggle and then a game of survival that is by turns bizarre and shocking. Written as a Jonestown parable for the Trump era, playwright Susan Soon He Stanton explores themes of "group-think" and betrayal that instigate our deepest primal fears.

cygnus

by Susan Soon He Stanton

Synopsis

Cydney believes an angel rescued her from an ineffable trauma, and the truth may prove stranger than she imagines. In this mythic, hilarious, and poetic new play, a burnt feather may illuminate the possibility of a divine intervention.

Cydney believes an angel rescued her from an ineffable trauma, and the truth may prove stranger than she imagines. In this mythic, hilarious, and poetic new play, a burnt feather may illuminate the possibility of a divine intervention.

SEEK

by Susan Soon He Stanton

Synopsis

In 1926, British mystery writer Agatha Christie disappeared in England. Her car was found in a chalk quarry and thousands of fans searched for the beloved author, as suspicion was cast on her adulterous husband, Archie Christie. On the eleventh day, she was discovered and claimed amnesia, never speaking or writing about the incident again. In a fictional retelling of this real life disappearance, SEEK imagines...

In 1926, British mystery writer Agatha Christie disappeared in England. Her car was found in a chalk quarry and thousands of fans searched for the beloved author, as suspicion was cast on her adulterous husband, Archie Christie. On the eleventh day, she was discovered and claimed amnesia, never speaking or writing about the incident again. In a fictional retelling of this real life disappearance, SEEK imagines Agatha on the Big Island of Hawaii in Puna: a rough and unforgiving landscape. Burdened by a secret and chased halfway around the world, Agatha's life begins to resemble the dark stories she imagined.

Whatever Happened to John Boy Kihano?

by Susan Soon He Stanton

Synopsis

Inspired by a real-life disappearance, John Boy... is the story of a Hawaiian-Chinese fisherman plunges his family into a crisis when he returns home claiming to have given his youngest son to a woman the cannot prove exists.

Inspired by a real-life disappearance, John Boy... is the story of a Hawaiian-Chinese fisherman plunges his family into a crisis when he returns home claiming to have given his youngest son to a woman the cannot prove exists.

Naviagtor

by Susan Soon He Stanton

Synopsis

Combining hula, chant, history and hard science this production explores ancient and modern stories of navigation. Questions of identity, geography and history collide when two young women, one modern and
one ancient, find themselves wrestling with the stars and sea to discover their place in the world.

Combining hula, chant, history and hard science this production explores ancient and modern stories of navigation. Questions of identity, geography and history collide when two young women, one modern and
one ancient, find themselves wrestling with the stars and sea to discover their place in the world.

Furball

by Susan Soon He Stanton

Synopsis

Alona, an elderly Serbian immigrant, is afraid an intruder has broken. She enlists her dubious neighbor to help. Inside they discover the intruder to be a large furry animal. Soon, they are horrified to realize the intruder is actually a mysterious young woman in a strange fur coat.

Alona, an elderly Serbian immigrant, is afraid an intruder has broken. She enlists her dubious neighbor to help. Inside they discover the intruder to be a large furry animal. Soon, they are horrified to realize the intruder is actually a mysterious young woman in a strange fur coat.

Art Of Preservation

by Susan Soon He Stanton

Synopsis

A difficult librarian and a local boy who never grew up, are trapped in a library basement in Kauai by heavy rainstorm. When the threat of a flood becomes imminent, they must decide what's worth saving.

A difficult librarian and a local boy who never grew up, are trapped in a library basement in Kauai by heavy rainstorm. When the threat of a flood becomes imminent, they must decide what's worth saving.