Plays and Other Works
ELIZABETH'S WONDERLAND
Elizabeth's Wonderland reimagines Alice in Wonderland characters as various philosophers, who help Elizabeth (the universal student) make the transition from college to the “real world,” as she reflects—in a dream/nightmare the night before graduation—on all her years of schooling, as well as our education system and society at large. Soon, she finds herself fighting alongside the philosophers in a battle with the duo of the centuries—the Queen and King of Hearts—whose “Cave” (based on Plato’s Cave) is suspiciously too close for comfort. Follow Elizabeth as she plunges into her unconscious—the absurd, illogical and fantastic world that is her Wonderland—as she takes the philosophies she’s internalized the most and applies them to her own set of experiences, all to help her understand where she’s come from, what she’s been through and where she’s going next…
Elizabeth’s Wonderland was Marina Chan’s college playwriting senior thesis, Spring 2017. The play had its first staged reading at Columbia University, April 30th, 2017. The play was supposed to have its second reading — of a rigorous rewrite — March 12th, 2020 in the Pratt Theater at the Packer Collegiate Institute, but it was postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19. On March 12th, 2021, the play had a Zoom reading (with 20 actors!), an event held to observe the one-year anniversary of the start of lockdown.
Two-act full length (2 1/2 hours; with three raps), minimum of ten actors, some playing multiple roles. Script upon request.
ASIAN AMERICAN GIRL
Asian American Girl is confined in a cage by a Narrator. Will she ever manage to break free and tell her true story?
Developed at Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, Fall 2022, with director Jo Shui.
35 min one-act, three characters. Script upon request.
THE RETURN OF BETH'S DEVIL
A family drama that centers around Jewish-Asian American actress Beth and her older cousin, Katharine. When Katharine suddenly shows up at Beth’s doorstep after having been absent from Beth’s life for four years, Beth’s life is turned upside-down. Meanwhile, Beth and her boyfriend William are acting in a production of Fear Not Shakespeare’s As You Like It, and before they know it, life starts to imitate art when it becomes clear that Katharine is no longer “The Devil,” as Beth called her during their six-year estrangement, but rather Beth’s personal devil…
The Return of Beth's Devil was Marina Chan’s second college playwriting senior thesis, Spring 2017. The play had a staged reading at Columbia University, April 28th, 2017.
60 min one-act, three characters. Script upon request.
TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW
Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow tells the tale of a family of three during the Covid Era. Constantly getting on each other’s nerves, Lucy, Jane and Robert—aka Balloo, Mops and Plops—could be any family stuck in one room during lockdown, as they try calmly, and desperately, to pass the time. Will their belief in “tomorrow” save the day, or is something else just as deadly as the virus at play?
A Zoom staged reading of the play was produced March 29, 2021 by Little & Fierce Theatre Company as part of their Create II: A Digital Reading Series. Director Vanessa Lancellotti, with Marina Chan, Kelvin Han Yee, Maia Danziger and Amber Gatlin.
Live-streamed interview discussing Marina's creative process.
See Marina's quote about her play here: Little & Fierce BroadwayWorld article
90 min one-act, three characters. Script upon request.
TWO LOVERS
A "garbage" play (see below):
The world is ending and the Omniscient One has come to save humanity, by guiding them to a second Earth, Mars. But who is the Omniscient One really and does he have an ulterior motive? Leave it to a father, daughter and a couple — or two sets of lovers? — to find out.
Garbage play guidelines: "We’ve all watched a play, movie or TV show that was so bad it was good. We want you to emulate that. We’re looking for plays with un-followable plots, meaningless dialogue, blatant inconsistencies, physically-impossible stage directions, character-less characters, and absolutely no deeper message whatsoever. Think about what makes a good story, and do the opposite"--Root Beer Occasion Theatre Company asking for a "garbage play" during these Covid times, so silly it'll simply make us laugh again.
A Zoom staged reading of the play was produced June 22, 2021 by AirPlay '21. Director Neil Chan, with Larry Parker, Ana Roman, Marina Chan, Juan Perez and Carrie Wesolowski.
20 min play, minimum of four actors, each playing two roles. Script upon request.
ADVENTURES IN JUDAISM OF AN HONORARY JEW
Narrative in play form based on Marina Chan's experiences of being from a multicultural family (half Chinese, half Jewish). Produced as part of the Jewish Women's Theatre Salon-style production of MY BAD, MY GOOD (2015).
5-10 min play, three characters. Script upon request.
