Sunny’s Gifts and Things

by Lava Alapai

A prequel to Middletown Mall, in 1982, five strangers trapped inside a small convenience store in Hawaii seek refuge from the storm in the shadow of the impending Hurricane Iwa. Store owners Ana and Nobu are joined by Greg, Samantha, and Vincent. As the hurricane rages outside, tensions and secrets unfold in the cramped quarters. Sunny’s Gifts and Things is a story of connection, resilience, and Ohana.

Development History:

Staged reading - June 16th

Directed by: Luan Schooler and Melory Mirashrafi

Actors: Chris Harder, Erin McGarry, Chisao Hata, Fiely Matias, Blake Stone

Stage Manager: Kristen Mun-Van Noy

ARTISTS REPERTORY THEATRE

King of the Yees

by Lauren Yee

Directed by Lava Alapai

As a major player in the Yee Family Association (a men’s club formed during the Gold Rush) for nearly two decades, Larry Yee is a charming leader in San Francisco’s Chinese community. His daughter Lauren (the playwright), is eager to move away from the trappings of her childhood neighborhood, and on to new opportunities in her life. But when scandal erupts and her father goes missing, Lauren must navigate the myths and magic of Chinatown, uncover the past, and embrace her heritage in order to find her father. This funny, surreal, touching tale explores the importance of culture, race, nationality, and the joys and pains of truly getting to know family.

Profile Theatre Portland OR. 2022

Beatrice

by Dave Ragland and Mary McCallum

Directed by Lava Alapai

Beatrice Morrow Cannady was a prominent leader in Oregon’s cultural community and civil rights movement of the early 1900s.

Portland Opera

Portland Opera - Portland OR.

Stains

by Sarah Cho

Directed by Lava Alapai

Ashland New Plays workshop

stains is a coming-of-age comedy about a teenage girl whose family sees her first period as a burden. An autobiographical play about growing up poor, female, and Korean American in Los Angeles, stains is in development as part of Moving Arts Theatre’s 2021 MADlab Playwriting Development Program and was selected to participate at the 2022 Great Plains Theatre Commons New Play Conference.

Wayfinding

by Whitney Rowland

Directed by Lava Alapai

A fantastical, poignant comedy about Jane, an emotionally-numbed new widow, and Harrison, an inattentive, self-sabotaging fiancé. In seeking escape, these two strangers collide – both literally and figuratively – tangling their life lines and setting them on a time-bending journey involving an intercontinental plane crash, a magical forest, and a choice that leads them both to an unexpected destination.

An online stage-to-film event!

The Chinese Lady

BY LLOYD SUH
DIRECTED BY LAVA ALAPAI

The Chinese Lady tells the story of fourteen-year-old Afong Moy as she’s brought to the United States from Guangzhou Province in 1834. Allegedly the first Chinese woman to set foot on U.S. soil, she has been put on display for the American public as “The Chinese Lady.” For the next half-century, she performs for curious white people, showing them how she eats, what she wears, and the highlight of the event: how she walks with bound feet. As the decades wear on, her celebrated sideshow comes to define and challenge her very sense of identity.

Artists Repertory Theatre

October 2021

School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play

by Jocelyn Bioh

Directed by Lava Alapai

Paulina, the reigning Queen Bee at Ghana's most exclusive boarding school, has her sights set on the Miss Universe pageant. But the arrival of Ericka (a new student with undeniable talent, beauty, and light skin) captures the attention of the pageant recruiter — and nearly topples the social order of Paulina’s hive-minded friends. Jocelyn Bioh's biting comedy explores the challenges facing teenage girls across the globe and cautions that while beauty may be only skin deep, its pursuit can cut much deeper.

A co-production with Artists Repertory Theatre.

Portland Center Stage at The Armory

Is God Is

By Aleasha Harris

Directed by Lava Alapai

Washington Ensemble Theatre - Seattle WA.

Is God Is is a modern myth about twin sisters who sojourn from the Dirty South to the California desert to exact righteous revenge. Winner of the 2016 Relentless Award, Aleshea Harris collides the ancient, the modern, the tragic, the Spaghetti Western, and Afropunk in this darkly funny and unapologetic world premiere.

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bio | resume | photo

Lava Alapai is a multi-ethnic director, playwright, and photographer born in Okinawa, Japan, and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii.

In Hawaii, she caught the theatre bug and began her acting and directing career in an after-school theatre class. She and her friends made short films that she wrote, directed, and edited with two VHS players and her best friend’s camcorder.

After graduating with an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts in acting, Lava left Los Angeles, toured the country as a puppeteer, and landed in Portland, Oregon. She has been creating theatre in Portland for over a decade. Some of her recent directing credits include a stage to film of Wayfinding for Willamette University, School Girls, or; the African Mean Girls play for Portland Center Stage, Is God Is for Washington Ensemble Theatre, The Chinese Lady (film and stage), The Revolutionists, and An Octoroon(co-direction) for Artists Repertory Theatre, Columbinus, Charlotte's Web and Locomotion for Oregon Children's Theatre.

Lava has enjoyed being behind the camera as director of photography and editor for Alex Getting Better, for Oregon Children Theatre, Salt for Shaking the Tree Theatre, the November Project for ManyHats Collaboration, and a multimedia pandemic project called Touch for Portland Center Stage.

In 2014 Lava and her team entered the 48hour film festival with SAFE (writer/director) and won " Best use of Character."