Time travel, ghosts and the end of the world: Inside Keiko Green's surreal stage plays

“Is determination a alteration successful substance that needs to happen?” asks Keiko Green, binder and pencil successful hand. Rehearsals are underway for her caller play “You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!” — particularly, the surreal infinitesimal successful which Joel de la Fuente’s Greg, a begetter diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, meets Rafael Goldstein’s integrative greenish service man, who represents the subject concern analyzable and arranges the gathering astatine the behest of their communal friend, Greta Thunberg.

It’s a analyzable scene, acknowledges Green, who takes a spot astatine the prop array with manager Zi Alikhan and the actors. She asks them astir the characters’ motivations and their idiosyncratic thoughts astir the dialog portion scribbling successful her script, incorporating their insights and addressing their uncertainties. She past suggests caller lines to the actors who, aft speechmaking done them, stock their feelings astir the tweaks. This process — revelation, revision, run-through — repeats a fewer times until, finally, they each motion successful satisfaction.

“I spot actors and I emotion them truthful much,” the Georgia-born, North Hollywood-based playwright aboriginal tells The Times. “I similar to effort things successful the room, spot what’s moving for them and truly thin into those things. And possibly due to the fact that I’ve been an actor, we talk the aforesaid connection and tin physique these characters together.”

Throughout the theatre world, specified collaborative, on-the-fly rewrites are arsenic unsocial arsenic Green’s plays themselves. “Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play” — which has played San Diego, San Francisco and, aboriginal this year, Seattle — centers connected a time-traveling precocious schooler redeeming the satellite from the constituent pervasive to Asian cuisine. “Empty Ride,” which debuted astatine the Old Globe earlier this year, follows a girl who returns to Japan to thrust her father’s taxi cab — and its supernatural passengers.

And “You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!,” which begins performances connected Saturday astatine South Coast Repertory, is an ambitious exploration of grief, clime alteration and idiosyncratic significance, whether 1 is inactive connected Earth oregon otherwise. Ahead of the play’s world-premiere tally — besides starring River Gallo, Sharon Omi, Alysia Reiner and Anna LaMadrid — Green tells The Times astir penning coming-of-age signifier comedies for fast-talking actors, divers audiences and, yes, children — but not for theaters’ boards of directors. This speech has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

What inspired this play?

My mother-in-law passed distant close earlier the pandemic started. Everyone was truly well-meaning, but the lockdown was a hard clip for everybody, of course. It felt similar my hubby and I were successful our ain small shot of grief, successful a mode — physically, we were distant from everybody, and besides emotionally, radical were conscionable overwhelmed by a larger planetary grief. I asked my husband, “Do you consciousness similar your grief was stolen from you, successful a way?” and helium said, “No. It feels truly close that the satellite stopped erstwhile my ma died.”

That condemnation was truthful wide and truthful moving, and I started reasoning astir theatricalizing the thought that 1 idiosyncratic tin virtually beryllium your full world. It became a play astir significance: What does it mean to unrecorded a important life? Can we marque actions that are significant? Can we retrieve radical and marque them significant?

“I’m conscionable gonna constitute what feels close to me,” says playwright Keiko Green.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

“End of the World!” debuted astatine past year’s Pacific Playwrights Festival. What did you larn astir it from that reading, and since past by workshopping it each implicit the country?

Theaters person been tense astir this play. People deliberation that radical don’t privation to ticker a play astir dying oregon clime change, due to the fact that some are depressing, truthful it was mostly a situation to myself: Can I constitute a play astir those things, but inactive marque myself laughter portion penning it? It has immoderate large swings, and I didn’t cognize however it was going to onshore with people, but the effect [at PPF] was overwhelmingly positive. People of each ages waited to speech to america afterward, immoderate saying they connected with it due to the fact that they had precocious mislaid someone, but also, immoderate saying, “I was diagnosed with a terminal illness, and it’s the archetypal clip I’ve seen a play astir maine that doesn’t consciousness similar my beingness is already over.” That constituent was truly cool.

I’ve been fortunate to person tested it with truthful galore audiences implicit the past twelvemonth — aft PPF, we’ve been to Texas, Connecticut, Pasadena, Oregon and New York City — and present we’ve travel backmost to South Coast Rep, with 3 actors who’ve done the workshops. I deliberation it’s that audiences don’t cognize what they privation to spot until it’s successful beforehand of them, and the infinitesimal we conscionable springiness them what they deliberation they want, we’re not doing our jobs anymore. The clip is present to programme things that get radical saying, “Whoa, I’ve ne'er seen thing similar this before, and I had nary thought I needed it successful my beingness until now.”

Your caller plays person supernatural elements, clip question and interactions with different dimensions. Has your sensation ever been truthful fantastical and surreal?

I deliberation so. I’d decidedly accidental that, earlier the pandemic, I wrote what I thought theaters wanted: tiny cast, 1 location, 1 set, truly accessible themes — you know, things that a theater’s committee could truly get behind. I was successful my archetypal twelvemonth of grad schoolhouse erstwhile COVID hit, and I was like, I’m conscionable gonna constitute what feels close to me.

I wrote a full of 9 plays successful grad school, and the archetypal 1 was “Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play,” with a cardinal characters and sometimes changing locations 3 times connected 1 page. It’s since done good — it got maine into the O’Neill [National Playwrights Conference], got maine my archetypal TV penning gig, premiered astatine the Old Globe and is going into its 3rd accumulation this fall. That’s validating — like, it’s really bully to conscionable constitute what you’re funny in, it does wage disconnected to make the creation you privation to see.

You were a determination theatre histrion successful Seattle for 7 years. What pushed your pivot to writing?

As an actor, I ever loved gathering the satellite of the play unneurotic with the manager and writer and each the designers, and past erstwhile the play opened and they each left, I’d get truthful sad. I thought each histrion besides felt that way, and past I recovered retired that astir actors truly emotion it erstwhile the manager leaves and they’re connected their own. That’s what made maine archetypal think, possibly I’m a playwright.

I’ve ever loved caller work, truthful I tried to bash tons of workshops of caller plays. I retrieve I was an histrion speechmaking signifier directions for a “Cambodian Rock Band” workshop, and 1 time Lauren Yee brought successful a draught with elephantine holes and [a enactment that read,] “There is immoderate benignant of combat here,” and past it’d conscionable determination connected to the adjacent scene. And then, different day, she came backmost with 40 caller pages. I didn’t cognize you were allowed to bash that! It was adjuvant to spot however playwrights astatine the apical of their crippled worked, which playwrights don’t usually get to spot of different playwrights.

“Because I’ve been an actor, we talk the aforesaid language,” says Keiko Green.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

How has your acquisition acting informed your playwriting?

Some theatermakers emotion actors who are similar blank canvases, who tin beryllium immoderate you privation them to be. I remember, astatine [New York University], I learned astir auditioning for soap operas — however to bash your hairsbreadth and makeup, what neckline you should deterioration — and it felt similar a factory, dulling everyone’s sparkle and ridding radical of thing that made them special. I consciousness similar a batch of times, these grooming programs bash that, and that’s wherefore radical retired of schoolhouse person truthful overmuch occupation moving astatine first, due to the fact that they conscionable person to find themselves again.

I similar to beryllium with actors who bring their property and perspective, who aren’t acrophobic to beryllium silly and besides deliberation accelerated and speech fast. I deliberation due to the fact that I emotion actors truthful much, I privation to springiness them juicy parts that truly showcase their talents, whether that’s with emotionally charged scenes truthful they tin usage those muscles, oregon by giving them a way with a bajillion characters truthful they tin amusement disconnected a humongous range. Even ensemble roles successful my plays — those actors are ne'er relaxing, they’re ever doing speedy changes oregon conscionable turning into idiosyncratic new.

You’ve written for Hulu’s “Interior Chinatown” and Apple TV+’s upcoming “Margo’s Got Money Troubles.” How has your TV penning impacted your theatermaking?

The “Interior Chinatown” writers country successful peculiar was astir each Asian American writers, and they kept maine existent honest. Sometimes successful the theatre we [Asian American playwrights] had to beryllium simplistic astir however we tackle radical individuality due to the fact that we were warring for a voice, but it felt similar the lone mode you could get produced was to constitute individuality plays oregon victimizing, trauma plays.

In that TV room, if I said thing that felt similar it would get a clump of snaps successful the theater, a writer would past accidental to me, “I deliberation we tin bash amended than that.” And I was like, “Oh, right, we person to bash better, due to the fact that we’re starring the charge.” It’s since influenced maine connected however I brushwood Asian oregon Asian American characters successful my ain plays, and it’s the coolest happening to get to determine whether to incorporated individuality into a play due to the fact that of the play, not due to the fact that I’m needfully checking a box.

Among your galore upcoming projects is “Be Like Water,” a children’s play astir Bruce Lee that’ll debut astatine Seattle Children’s Theatre. What bash you prioritize erstwhile creating a Theatre for Young Audiences accumulation versus your different work?

I don’t travel from an creation family. My dada was a atomic technologist and my ma worked arsenic a translator and interpreter, and English is her 2nd language. They don’t needfully recognize art. So I don’t bask theatre that feels similar it’s conscionable for different artists, feels exclusionary or, successful the worst case, conscionable makes radical consciousness stupid. And the information is, theatre is not dying, but it is slowing down; each show is someone’s archetypal play and an accidental to either marque them a theatre person oregon to propulsion them distant forever. That’s adjacent much important with TYA shows.

This play isn’t adjacent astir the astir physically breathtaking clip successful his life; it’s astir erstwhile helium was archetypal moved to the U.S. and was discovering his doctrine of dealing with obstacles and learning that there’s a mode done them versus battering astatine them. So I privation to springiness them an thought of who this main quality is — due to the fact that they don’t needfully cognize Bruce Lee by sanction — speech to them astatine their level, marque it amusive and theatrical, and talk to them arsenic radical who are figuring retired who they are. And I emotion penning for radical who are figuring retired who they are, due to the fact that that’s each of us.

“It does wage disconnected to make the creation you privation to see,” says playwright Keiko Green.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)