In The Works

It takes time to bring a new play to the stage. How much time depends on specific aspects of each play. Some may take a few months, others, longer than that.

At Ma-Yi Theater, we give each writer a big say in how his or her play gets developed. It may take readings, workshops, and retreats, but whatever the combination, they’re always tailored to serve the needs of the playwright. Most importantly, we are committed to producing the works of our writers. That’s the game changer, and an important benchmark for how and why we create.

Some of the new plays we’re working on include:

EDITH CAN SHOOT THINGS AND HIT THEM
By A. Rey Pamatmat
Three kids -- Kenny, his sister Edith, and their friend Benji -- are all but abandoned on a farm in remotest Middle America. But the outside world comes flooding in when Kenny's and Benji's relationship becomes more than friendship, and Edith shoots something she really shouldn't shoot.

MICROCRISIS
By Michael Lew
You've heard of "microcredit"? The Nobel Prize-winning concept of providing Third World entrepreneurs with small charitable loans to help alleviate global poverty? Microcrisis looks at what happens when a scheming investment banker exploits microcredit, lumps it into complex financial instruments, and ravages the global economy once again - and it all turns out hilarious.

THE SUGAR HOUSE AT THE EDGE OF THE WILDERNESS
By Carla Ching
When Greta comes home one night caked in blood with the police on her heels, her brother Han threatens to run away, fearful of what Greta might do next. To keep the family together, Doc sends Greta to the Sugar House where he hopes that Baba can retrain her and fashion her into a model child. Little does he know that Baba's methods are unorthodox and she may break Greta further rather than fix her. A fractured adaptation of Hansel and Gretel about today's constantly shifting notions of family, home, parenthood and childhood. Complete with a live twitter feed and mountains of candy.

GALOIS
By Sung Rno
Math, love and revolution collide in this music theater piece exploring the romantic life of Evariste Galois, who invented a branch of mathematics as a teenager, but died at 21, the victim of a tragic duel over a woman amid the radical politics of France in the 1830s.

I__NY
By Ralph Peña, Loy Arcenas, Jennifer Ikeda, Debargo Sanyal, Alfredo Narciso, James Yaegashi, Cindy Cheung, and Julienne Hanzelka Kim.
A wild, funny, and moving story where the lives of immigrant New Yorkers intersect at seemingly random moments, offering a shared experience of the alternating magic and chaos of New York City.

HAPPY END OF THE WORLD
(In association with Children’s Theater Company of Minneapolis)
By Lloyd Suh
The end of the world is nigh, but luckily a prophecy foretelling the strange heroics of the kids next door may actually come to bear. Violet and Bruce Westerberg aren't going to the park, or the pool, or the mall today because they have to go to the star planet Grixnoo, there to meet the Great Prognosticator and Imperious Canute, in hopes of defeating the evil Space Chupacabra and making this the happiest end of the world in like ever.

Past Productions