Playwriting
Emma enjoys creating stories centering Asian Americans that fuel audience disagreement or dissatisfaction and therefore conversation. Telling stories where Asian people can be the bad guys in ugly, human ways, letting AAPI artists dive into the internal life of Asian people across multiple genres, and having audiences witness our wide ranging identities and experiences is the core of what drives her as a writer. Additionally, she really enjoys co-writing with others and collaboration in development of new stories.
Emma was a member of Theatre Mu’s Emerging Playwrights Cohort, the Women’s Playwright Collective at Staten Island Shakespeare, and a member of PlayPenn’s Playwrights Cohort 2025. She was a semi-finalist for Playwrights’ Center’s Many Voices Fellowship and the Signpost Fellowship.
She is currently studying at Carnegie Mellon University’s MFA Dramatic Writing Program.
Who You Kiss For Fun
Who You Kiss for Fun is a romantic comedy following three Asian-American childhood friends, two of which–Tyler and Julie have been kissing for fun–but as Tyler emphasizes, they are NOT dating.. Meanwhile David struggles with the emasculation he feels as an Asian man and what his feelings are for Julie as they near the end of high school.
CAST
All characters are Asian.
JULIE: 18-year old girl, sarcastic, bold, but keeps a lot of her emotions to herself
DAVID: 18-year old guy, the grown up of the trio, not neccesarily not attractive.
TYLER: 18-year old guy, extremely attractive, the least mature of the trio
Who You Kiss for Fun was developed during the Emerging Writers Cohort with Theatre Mu and has had developmental readings with Picnic Basket Theatre, Jersey City Theatre Center, Frank Silvera’s Writers Workshop, and Melancholics Anonymous.
You may read the script at her New Play Exchange
My Best Friend Amy Jo and I Killed President Snow
Amy Jo and Jes probably shouldn't be best friends. They know it. Their friends know it. Even Principal Snow agrees! Yikes! But wouldn’t it be easier to just kill all dissenters in their Hunger Games fan fiction than to actually deal with their friendship issues??
CAST
JES (16, BIPOC, she/her): the writer and narrator of this play, a prickly presence and sense of humor, has to force her voice to be heard, Amy Jo is her best friend
AMY JO (16, East Asian, she/her): pretty, good at everything, perfect, Jes is her best friend
MT (16, Brown South Asian, he/him): loud and obnoxious sense of humor, Amy Jo’s ex
DANIEL (16, White, he/him): nice jock guy, there for Amy Jo
SAMUEL (16, BIPOC, he/him): on Reddit a lot so he’s well-read
PRINCIPAL SNOW/PRESIDENT SNOW ((33), White, he/him): emotionally intelligent, cares about students and their relationships–possibly too much, GAY
My Best Friend Amy Jo and I Killed President Snow will be workshopped at the Impulse Festival at the Center for New Work/City Theatre in Pittsburgh in Fall 2026.
LOCUST
Book by Emma Y. Lai
Music and Lyrics by Hannah Bakke
Synopsis: Forest arrives at a small isolated town, Grasshopper Creek, to pick up his missing friend, Danny’s documentarian equipment. The Townspeople are cheerful and nice but when Forest discovers Danny’s voice recordings, they warn him that something is wrong in Grasshopper Creek. Based on the true fact that benign grasshoppers physiologically transform into swarms of aggressive locusts during times of drought and famine, LOCUST is a folk horror musical that examines morality, taking action, disturbing the peace, and the ugly side of humanity.
CAST
FOREST (he/him)-25-BIPOC-a man from the outside world, trying to be a better person
ROBIN (she/her)-25-any race-voted the most moral person in town
ALICE (she/her)-25-any race-wants to fit in but wants the truth
THE TOWN LEADERS: Connie, Masa, and Marnie
TOWNSPEOPLE ENSEMBLE
Locust was originally commissioned and developed by Trademark Theater, Tyler Michaels King, Artistic Director, in St. Paul, MN.
Locust has received the Artists@theBarn Residency with Theatre4thePeople.
Manifest Destiny Trilogy
Part 1: It Was Hysteria
It Was Hysteria takes place at the bottom of the ocean in an expanding military base during a future American War on Asia. Tensions rise when the higher ups send a note warning of a spy among them and the racist policies on the surface inevitably still reach them. Meanwhile, a mysterious Sea Monster appears.
CAST
CHARACTERS
All characters live in the United States and are not a part of the states that seceded.
KYLE (they/he)-25-Asian, a journalist paid by the government who writes as an Asian face in support of assimilation and policies the government introduces. Enjoys musing over difficult things. Paige’s childhood friend.
PAIGE (she/they)-25-White, wants to become President of the United States in the next 16 years, at the forefront of advocating against anti-Asian policies
MICHAEL (he/him)-30-Asian, Paige’s bodyguard, holds himself like a hero of the highest morals
LAURA (she/her)-25-Asian, Paige’s Father’s assistant, accepts her place and has learned to smoothly navigate through the harsher realities of the world
JOHN (he/him)-30-White, the team leader, military engineer married to Laura to help protect her rights
THE SEA MONSTER—can grants wishes if you agree to trade your potential away and stay at the bottom of the ocean as a mermaid
Manifest Destiny was a Finalist for Pipeline Theatre Co.’s 2024 PlayLab. and had a staged reading as a part of Limefest at the Tank NYC.
The Rabbit on the Moon and Their Friends
Synopsis: When Avery arrives in the afterlife, he is told that he is 48 years old and that was the age of his happiest memory. He reunites with his daughter Lotte, who passed away as a teenager and he has deeply grieved her his whole life. Therefore, he is distressed to realize that his happiest memory occurred after her death.
The Rabbit on the Moon and Their Friends is based on the Asian story of a rabbit who jumps into the fire of a starving man when all their other animal friends were unable to give the man what he needed. The is rewarded by being given a place on the moon.
This play tells of Avery's reunions, relationships, and rabbit friend and how care feels within someone versus how it is actually given and received
CAST
All characters are Asian.
AVERY (he/him): 48-years old
LOTTE (she/her): 18-years old
MARS (they/them): 37-years old
TIMMY/THE RABBIT (he/him): 10-years old
THOM (he/him): 18-years old
THE PIANIST (any pronouns): any age