Liana Asim

Liana Asim

Liana Asim is a playwright/actor. Her full-length plays include Bedfellows, Slut Walk, The Hairy Scary (a musical co-written with Jabari Asim and Joshua Stephen Kartes), and Brother Nat (an opera co-written with Jabari Asim.) Her work has been developed at Fresh Ink Theatre, Playwright’s Platform and Emerson College in Boston, MA and at The Players Club and Davenport Studios in NYC. She has studied...
Liana Asim is a playwright/actor. Her full-length plays include Bedfellows, Slut Walk, The Hairy Scary (a musical co-written with Jabari Asim and Joshua Stephen Kartes), and Brother Nat (an opera co-written with Jabari Asim.) Her work has been developed at Fresh Ink Theatre, Playwright’s Platform and Emerson College in Boston, MA and at The Players Club and Davenport Studios in NYC. She has studied performance art at Northwestern University and screenwriting, television and playwriting at Emerson College. She is the proud wife of author, Jabari Asim, mother to five brilliant children and two awesome grandchildren.

Plays

  • Slut Walk or A Play About Marilyn Monroe by Liana Asim
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    8–12
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    Genre: drama, experimental + 1 more
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    Keyword: Marilyn Monroe, slut walk + 3 more
    Genre: drama, experimental, political
    Keyword: Marilyn Monroe, slut walk, rape, SEXUAL AWAKENING, sexual identity
    “Slut Walk or A Play about Marilyn Monroe” flip-flops from the present to the past by way of an androgynous disc jockey/guide known as “Soundtrack” who spins records and relevant images from center stage. In the wake of her grandmother’s death, Emma, our protagonist, joins a slut walk demonstration to protest sexual violence. While managing her grandmother’s estate, she discovers a treasure trove of Marilyn...
    “Slut Walk or A Play about Marilyn Monroe” flip-flops from the present to the past by way of an androgynous disc jockey/guide known as “Soundtrack” who spins records and relevant images from center stage. In the wake of her grandmother’s death, Emma, our protagonist, joins a slut walk demonstration to protest sexual violence. While managing her grandmother’s estate, she discovers a treasure trove of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia. She decides to write her senior thesis on Marilyn and slowly begins to identify with her, transforming herself to look like the tragic sex goddess. Emma discovers her own sexual identity in the course of uncovering Marilyn’s secrets, leading her to the identity of the sexual predator who has also been terrorizing her campus.
  • Bedfellows by Liana Asim
    Cast: 
    2–4
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    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 2 more
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    Keyword: President, Abraham Lincoln + 1 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, drama, period
    Keyword: President, Abraham Lincoln, suicide
    “Bedfellows” offers a peek into the bedroom of Abe Lincoln and Joshua Speed on January 1, 1841. Lincoln tosses and turns in bed, knocking Speed, his “intimate companion,” to the floor. Speed sings him back to sleep. He then spends the rest of the morning inducing Lincoln to end his engagement to Mary Ann Todd. He succeeds but Lincoln, guilt-ridden, slides into a state of depression. Speed adds to Lincoln’s...
    “Bedfellows” offers a peek into the bedroom of Abe Lincoln and Joshua Speed on January 1, 1841. Lincoln tosses and turns in bed, knocking Speed, his “intimate companion,” to the floor. Speed sings him back to sleep. He then spends the rest of the morning inducing Lincoln to end his engagement to Mary Ann Todd. He succeeds but Lincoln, guilt-ridden, slides into a state of depression. Speed adds to Lincoln’s despair when he announces that he is selling his business and moving back to Kentucky. He also reveals his engagement to Fanny Henning. Lincoln is outraged. It seems that everyone he truly loves leaves him. After heated discussions about God, slavery and politics, they set aside their differences over whiskey and steak pie. Speed leaves the room when the buyer of his business comes to deliver final payment. Lincoln discovers a letter from Speed’s mother suggesting that Lincoln is prone to “streaks of lavender” and that Speed’s reputation will be ruined if he continues to fraternize with a man of such common heritage. Melancholy breeds self-destruction as Lincoln puts a pistol to his skull. At the end of the day Lincoln’s life and his friendship with Speed are spared.