Mary Lyon Kamitaki

Mary Lyon Kamitaki

Mary is an educator by day and playwright by night.

Her play, Southernmost, had its world premiere with Playwrights’ Arena in Los Angeles in 2019, with sold out performances leading to an extension. She recently completed a reading of her new play, The King of Maricopa County, an adaptation commissioned by UCLA and Playwrights’ Arena, with A Noise Within. She is currently developing new plays as...
Mary is an educator by day and playwright by night.

Her play, Southernmost, had its world premiere with Playwrights’ Arena in Los Angeles in 2019, with sold out performances leading to an extension. She recently completed a reading of her new play, The King of Maricopa County, an adaptation commissioned by UCLA and Playwrights’ Arena, with A Noise Within. She is currently developing new plays as a resident playwright in the Skylight Theatre’s SkyLab, and as a member of New West, the EST/LA workshop for playwrights under 30. Mary’s plays have been developed at the Alliance Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, and the University of Southern California. Her work has also received semifinalist status for the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and finalist status for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, as well as the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition, and the Humanitas PLAY LA Workshop.

Before coming to the mainland, Mary was born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii, and she returns there often in her writing. Her work also explores questions of identity facing young women in intimate relationships. As a mixed-race, Asian American woman, she is particularly interested in mixed families and partnerships.

Mary has an MFA in Dramatic Writing from the University of Southern California. She is also a graduate of Pomona College, where she studied Math and Media Studies. She recently moved to Brooklyn.

Plays

  • Fuck That I Wanna Be Famous
    A surreal comedic adaptation of No Exit set in the world of a reality TV dating show. Four women arrive on set, ready to compete for the man of their dreams, but quickly find themselves trapped with only each other--and one mysterious producer-- for company. As the night goes on, secrets surface and reality begins to break down, forcing the contestants to decide how much they'll sacrifice in order to fall in love on TV.
  • King of Maricopa County
    When Duke, a conservative talk radio personality, marries Casandra, he fears she’ll clash with his adult son Freddie. Instead, Casandra and Freddie fall in love, forcing them to choose between their loyalty to Duke and each other while Duke fights to avenge his pride and regain control over his family. An adaptation of the Spanish Golden Age tragedy Castigo sin Venganza, by Lope de Vega.
  • Southernmost
    When a lava flow threatens his town, a retired fisherman in rural Hawaii struggles to stand his ground despite his family's warnings.
  • Failure to Thrive
    When 90-year-old Magda’s family arrives for a visit, she surprises them with a request: she’d like them to help her die. As Magda retreats deeper into her own dreams and memories, her daughters battle over how to handle the crisis. Eventually, her granddaughter Lola is left alone with Magda, forced to make a choice between honoring her grandmother's request and prolonging her life.
  • Top of the World
    Four delinquent teen girls on a service trip wake up alone on the island of Kaho'olawe, without their chaperones, and surrounded by unexploded ordnance leftover from WWII. With no hope of rescue-- or any sign of what happened to everyone else-- they must learn to survive and build their own society, while leaving behind the old one.