NEWS RELEASE CONTACT: Stefanie Lau, info@artistsatplay.org

LA-BASED AAPI THEATER COLLECTIVE ARTISTS AT PLAY ANNOUNCE 2024 SEASON

The season explores the Southeast and South Asian diaspora with a Filipino American World Premiere by Nicholas Pilapil and special presentations of Indian American plays by Ankita Raturi and Madhuri Shekar   

LOS ANGELES (April 2, 2024) – Artists at Play, the Los Angeles-based Asian American theater collective dedicated to developing new works by AAPI writers, announces their 2024 Season. The line-up spotlights diverse facets of Asian American identity with stories about the tenacity, perseverance, and courage of South and Southeast Asian immigrants, first-generation children, and their pursuits of the “American Dream.” At the heart of the season is the world premiere dramedy God Will Do The Rest by Filipino American playwright Nicholas Pilapil.

“This season examines three Asian American family stories and how immigrant parents and their American-born children grapple with hardship, hope and healing,” says Producing Artistic Leader Julia Cho. “These plays are a joyful and authentic addition of family comedies to the canon of American theatre.”

The world premiere of God Will Do The Rest by Nicholas Pilapil, directed by Fran de Leon, is produced in partnership with Latino Theater Company and set for a five-week run, Aug. 29 through Sept. 29, at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. With Santo Niño prayers, karaoke and chicken adobo, God Will Do The Rest is an uproarious comedy that tackles the complicated ways Filipino Americans contend with their love and duty to family. 

“The United States has the largest concentration of Filipinos outside of the Philippines, with California having the largest population,” says Producing Artistic Leader Marie-Reine Velez. “But the Filipino American experience is often excluded from American stages. We’re excited to add a new narrative to the American theater canon’s epic exploration of family drama that celebrates the complexities of a multigenerational Filipino family.”

Kicking off the season, Artists at Play will spend the month of May developing नेहा & Neel (Neha & Neel) by AAP-commissioned playwright Ankita Raturi as part of their New Play Development program. नेहा & Neel is a comedy about an Indian mother and American-born son forced to confront the differences between who he is and who she wants him to be – exploring what it means to be bicultural and what it means to be a mom. The development process will culminate in a public workshop reading on May 18 at the Los Angeles Theatre Center.

To close out the season, Artists at Play will celebrate Halloween with a special event presentation of the award-winning Audible Original and Amazon Studios feature film Evil Eye by Madhuri Shekar, now with a new theatrical retelling. Usha is convinced something terrible is afoot, something otherworldly – and it’s coming for her daughter. Date and venue TBA. 

“We believe AAPI stories have value beyond our own communities,” says Producing Artistic Leader Stefanie Lau. “These three culturally-specific plays shine a light on the beauty of our stories while allowing all audiences to find themselves in each compelling one through the universal lens of family.” 

2024 Season

God Will Do The Rest
by Nicholas Pilapil
directed by Fran de Leon
Aug. 29 – Sept. 29, 2024
World Premiere Production
In partnership with Latino Theater Company

In the wake of her divorce, Connie the black sheep of the de Dios family is back in her childhood home after being estranged for almost two decades. But a de Dios doesn’t forgive or forget. When the whole family – her tough-as-nails father, wayward son, bougie sister with the white doctor boyfriend, and flamboyant favorite aunt – all gather to celebrate her glamorously overbearing mother’s milestone birthday, what could possibly go wrong? With Santo Niño prayers, karaoke, and chicken adobo, God Will Do The Rest exposes the complicated ways Filipino Americans grapple with their love and duty to family.

God Will Do The Rest will be presented at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013, in Downtown Los Angeles. God Will Do The Rest was originally written and developed in The Geffen Playhouse’s The Writers’ Room.

नेहा & Neel (Neha & Neel)
by Ankita Raturi
May 18, 2024
Workshop Reading

Neha (नेहा) always planned to raise Neel as her perfect Indian-Sri Lankan-American boy. Yet somehow, Neel grew up too embarrassed to speak Hindi and can’t stand it when his mom acts too Indian in public. And now that he’s off to college – hopefully across the country – Neha fears she’ll lose him for good. As they prepare to tour colleges and travel through long drives, delays and motel stays, Neha and Neel will be forced to confront the differences between who he is and who she wants him to be. A story about what it means to be bicultural and what it means to be a mom.

नेहा & Neel (Neha & Neel) will be presented at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013, in Downtown Los Angeles. 

Evil Eye
by Madhuri Shekar
October 2024
Special Event Presentation

Usha has tried everything to matchmake for her daughter, Pallavi: horoscopes, fortune-tellers, arranged dates galore. But there’s only so much she can do in Delhi, halfway across the world from Pallavi. Usha fears that her daughter might die alone … until Pallavi falls head-over-heels for the smart and charming Sandeep. He is everything Usha could want in a son-in-law but she can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t quite right. In fact, she’s convinced something terrible is afoot, something otherworldly – and it’s coming for her daughter.

For more information about Artists at Play and the 2024 Season, visit http://www.artistsatplay.org or email info@artistsatplay.org.

About the Artists

Nicholas Pilapil (Playwright, God Will Do The Rest) is a Filipino American playwright. His plays include The Bottoming Process (world premiere with IAMA Theatre Company, Victory Gardens Ignition Festival of New Plays) and if all that You take from this is courage, then I’ve no regrets (winner of the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival). His work has also been developed with Geffen Playhouse, Abingdon Theatre Company, Playwrights Foundation, American Stage, Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA, The Workshop Theater, and Artists at Play, among others. Nicholas is an alum of The Writers’ Room at the Geffen Playhouse, IAMA Theatre Company’s Emerging Playwrights Lab, The Vagrancy Playwrights Group, and artEquity.

Ankita Raturi (Playwright, नेहा & Neel) (she/her) is a currently Queens-based writer and teaching artist who grew up in capital cities, pediatric gastroenterology offices, and the bisexual closet. She writes hyper-theatrical works in Hindi/Urdu, English, and sometimes Bahasa Indonesia about living between cultural identities and contending with the ongoing legacies of colonization. 2022 Winner of the Bret Adams and Paul Reisch Foundation’s Ollie Award. New play development: Roundabout, Ma-Yi Theater Company, South Coast Repertory, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Playwrights Realm, Cygnet Theatre, Artists at Play, The COOP, Atlantic Pacific Theatre, Theater Masters, Hypokrit Theatre Company, New York Shakespeare Exchange, Pete’s Candy Store, Natyabharati. Devised work with Charlotte Murray: Fresh Ground Pepper, Corkscrew Theater Festival, Dixon Place. B.F.A. in Drama: NYU/Tisch. M.F.A. in Playwriting: UC San Diego.

Madhuri Shekar (Playwright, Evil Eye) is an award-winning playwright based in New Jersey. Her plays include House of Joy, Queen, A Nice Indian Boy, and In Love and Warcraft. Her audio drama, Evil Eye, won a 2020 Audie Award for best original work, and she wrote the film adaptation starring Sarita Chaudhury. A Nice Indian Boy has also been turned into a movie, starring Jonathan Groff and Karan Soni. She has an MFA in dramatic writing from USC and is an alumnus of the Juilliard Playwriting Program.

Fran de Leon (Director, God Will Do The Rest) Multi-hyphenate artist Fran de Leon was born in Downtown Los Angeles and spent her childhood in both Manila and Hollywood. Her one-person show, Faces of America, has been performed over 500 times across the country, including for the United Nations Association in New York and Los Angeles. Recent directing credits: Everybody (5C Performing Arts); Sacrifice Zone: Los Angeles (Natural History Museum); Holy Shiitake (Whitefire Theatre); Into the Woods (Pasadena Playhouse), Valor (Writer/Director Center Theatre Group’s Digital Stage). TV credits: “The Brothers Sun,” “For All Mankind,” “For the People” and “General Hospital.” Affiliations: Co-Artistic Director, Will & Company; Core Member, Critical Mass Performance Group; Adjunct Faculty, USC School of Dramatic Arts. frandeleon.com

About Artists at Play

Artists at Play (AAP) is a Los Angeles-based theater-producing collective dedicated to programming that explores the Asian American experience. Since 2011, AAP has produced theater that demonstrates the humanity and complexity of their diverse communities. They provide a platform for meaningful representation through employment opportunities, inclusive programming, advocacy and administrative and artistic resources. 

AAP produces theater new to Los Angeles audiences. Los Angeles and West Coast premieres include Ching Chong Chinaman by Lauren Yee, Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them by A. Rey Pamatmat, Cowboy Versus Samurai by Michael Golamco, 99 Histories by Julia Cho, In Love and Warcraft by Madhuri Shekar and The Chinese Lady by Lloyd Suh. World premiere productions include The Two Kids that Blow Shit Up by Carla Ching, Two Mile Hollow by Leah Nanako Winkler and This Is Not a True Story by Preston Choi – all of which emerged from the Artists at Play Readings Series. Through their new play development programs, they have developed new works by Boni B. Alvarez, Amanda L. Andrei, Carla Ching, Preston Choi, Kathryn de la Rosa, Noa Gardner, Chloé Hung, Peter J. Kuo, Victor Maog, Qui Nguyen, Rosie Narasaki, Giovanni Ortega, Lina Patel, Nicholas Pilapil, Nathan Ramos-Park, Ankita Raturi, Sanaz Toossi, Jason Tseng, Alice Tuan and Leah Nanako Winkler. https://artistsatplay.org/