Emily Yuko Walborn

Emily Yuko Walborn is a Japanese American playwright from Montana. She received her MA in Playwriting from the University of Manchester (UK) and her BA in Writing for Film & Television from Emerson College. Her plays have been produced and developed nationally and internationally at theaters including Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA, the Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival, The Road Theatre Company, IATI, Stomping Grounds Art House, The Experimental Theatre Coop, Box of Tricks Theatre, The Old Library Theatre, Manchester Drama Society, The Fled Collective, and at universities across the US. Her play The Very End of Our Friendship was an official selection for the 2026 Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival, her play Logical Conspiracies won Old Library Theatre’s One Act Play Festival...

Emily Yuko Walborn is a Japanese American playwright from Montana. She received her MA in Playwriting from the University of Manchester (UK) and her BA in Writing for Film & Television from Emerson College. Her plays have been produced and developed nationally and internationally at theaters including Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA, the Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival, The Road Theatre Company, IATI, Stomping Grounds Art House, The Experimental Theatre Coop, Box of Tricks Theatre, The Old Library Theatre, Manchester Drama Society, The Fled Collective, and at universities across the US. Her play The Very End of Our Friendship was an official selection for the 2026 Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival, her play Logical Conspiracies won Old Library Theatre’s One Act Play Festival, and her play Clown Memo won the “Audience Favorite” award at the Last Chance New Play Festival.

Emily’s obsession with comedy and satire dictates her work and collaborations. She is passionate about creating more opportunities for female and Asian representation in comedy and spends most of her days following all things Manchester City FC.

Scripts

Beta Bitches

by Emily Yuko Walborn

Synopsis

Production History:
2024 - Middle Tennessee State University
2023 - Stomping Grounds Arthouse - World Premiere
2023 - Middlebury College
2023 - Stomping Grounds Arthouse - Staged Reading

Beta Bitches is a comedic play about two mean girls, Madison and Gwen, who hold a séance in an attempt to contact their deceased friend/Queen Bee. But the spirits are angry, like, sooooo angry. For Madison and Gwen to get the...

Production History:
2024 - Middle Tennessee State University
2023 - Stomping Grounds Arthouse - World Premiere
2023 - Middlebury College
2023 - Stomping Grounds Arthouse - Staged Reading

Beta Bitches is a comedic play about two mean girls, Madison and Gwen, who hold a séance in an attempt to contact their deceased friend/Queen Bee. But the spirits are angry, like, sooooo angry. For Madison and Gwen to get the answers they so desperately seek, they must endure a terrifying night of contact from the other side. Yet, their séance takes a horrifying turn when they conjure the one person they thought they’d never have to see again. Riffing on classic teen movie tropes, Beta Bitches uncovers the vulnerability and humanity of teenage caricatures. It is an exploration of stereotypes, manipulative friendships, and how to exorcise your demons… like, literally.

Logical Conspiracies

by Emily Yuko Walborn

Synopsis

Production History:
2024 - Hand to Mouth Playwright/Director Workshop
2023 - Stomping Grounds Arthouse
2023 - Old Library Theatre - Winner of One Act Play Festival
2022 - University of Manchester

When two strangers meet in the waiting room of a psychological study, they fall down a rabbit hole of paranoia. Is waiting the real study? Is some unknown entity watching every move and choice they make? Will eating a...

Production History:
2024 - Hand to Mouth Playwright/Director Workshop
2023 - Stomping Grounds Arthouse
2023 - Old Library Theatre - Winner of One Act Play Festival
2022 - University of Manchester

When two strangers meet in the waiting room of a psychological study, they fall down a rabbit hole of paranoia. Is waiting the real study? Is some unknown entity watching every move and choice they make? Will eating a donut reveal their darkest secrets?

Ren Kobayashi-Smith and the Magic Pillow that May or May Not Fix Her Life

by Emily Yuko Walborn

Synopsis

Production History:
2025 IATI Theater - Staged Reading
2025 Pork Filled Productions: Unleashed - Finalist
2025 IATI Theater - Cimientos Play Development Program
2022 - Box of Tricks Theatre - Rehearsed Reading

An adaptation of the Japanese Noh play ‘Kantan’
Ren Kobayashi-Smith's life is a complete mess. She's been passed up for a promotion, her boyfriend is a weeb who fetishizes her, and she feels too white for...

Production History:
2025 IATI Theater - Staged Reading
2025 Pork Filled Productions: Unleashed - Finalist
2025 IATI Theater - Cimientos Play Development Program
2022 - Box of Tricks Theatre - Rehearsed Reading

An adaptation of the Japanese Noh play ‘Kantan’
Ren Kobayashi-Smith's life is a complete mess. She's been passed up for a promotion, her boyfriend is a weeb who fetishizes her, and she feels too white for her Asian friends and too Asian for her white friends. She floats between two worlds, unable to find where she belongs. She resolves to fix her identity crisis with a family heirloom - a generations-old magic pillow that shows you the best version of your life. Surely, this has to be the solution she's been looking for.

Fusing the music, dance, and visual elements of Noh theatre with contemporary themes, Ren Kobayashi-Smith and the Magic Pillow that May or May Not Fix Her Life is an exploration of racial identity.

The Very End of Our Friendship

by Emily Yuko Walborn

Synopsis

Production History:
2026 Aloha High School - Staged Reading
2025 The Road Theatre Summer Playwrights Festival - Semi-Finalist

The transition from college to adulthood is one of the toughest to make. When a group of old high school friends meet for a camping trip, they try to prove to each other that they have the perfect life and are not struggling in any way whatsoever.

Production History:
2026 Aloha High School - Staged Reading
2025 The Road Theatre Summer Playwrights Festival - Semi-Finalist

The transition from college to adulthood is one of the toughest to make. When a group of old high school friends meet for a camping trip, they try to prove to each other that they have the perfect life and are not struggling in any way whatsoever.

11PM Bus to Fargo

by Emily Yuko Walborn

Synopsis

Production History:
2022 University of Manchester - Drama Society Shorts Festival

It’s 11PM and Rei sits alone at the bus station. She’s leaving town, but before she goes, she wants to talk to her best friend Marla one more time. They deserve a proper goodbye. As night goes on, Rei slips into the conversations, arguments, and final moments of her friendship. Will she really leave town for good this time or is...

Production History:
2022 University of Manchester - Drama Society Shorts Festival

It’s 11PM and Rei sits alone at the bus station. She’s leaving town, but before she goes, she wants to talk to her best friend Marla one more time. They deserve a proper goodbye. As night goes on, Rei slips into the conversations, arguments, and final moments of her friendship. Will she really leave town for good this time or is this just another ploy to get Marla back?

Trout Aquarium

by Emily Yuko Walborn

Synopsis

Production History:
2022 - University of Manchester - Workshop

The Saint Regis Trout Aquarium is a small roadside attraction off of I-90 in Montana. The people that work there spend their days feeding trout, cleaning tanks, and greeting tourists. When the trout begin to mysteriously die, management wants someone to blame. The employees are pitted against each other in order to save their jobs. Some cave to...

Production History:
2022 - University of Manchester - Workshop

The Saint Regis Trout Aquarium is a small roadside attraction off of I-90 in Montana. The people that work there spend their days feeding trout, cleaning tanks, and greeting tourists. When the trout begin to mysteriously die, management wants someone to blame. The employees are pitted against each other in order to save their jobs. Some cave to capitalist pressures, while others stand up for what they believe in. Trout Aquarium explores the brutality of a mundane workplace and what it means to work in a capitalist society.