Melissa Leilani Larson (she/her) is a mixed-race Filipino playwright based in Salt Lake City. Her award-winning work has been seen on five continents. Her plays include: A Form of Flattery; North and South; Sweetheart, Come; Gin Mummy; Mestiza, or Mixed; The Post Office; Jane Austen’s Persuasion; Mountain Law; Little Happy Secrets; Bitter Lemon; Pilot Program; Martyrs’ Crossing; Lady in Waiting; and the books for the musicals Relative Space and The Weaver of Raveloe. Her film work includes the features Jane and Emma and Freetown and the shorts “Patience” and “Iscariot.”
Accolades include the AATE Distinguished Play award, the IRAM Best New Play award, two Salt Lake City Weekly Arty awards, four AML drama awards, the Mayhew award, and a Ghana Movie award for Best Screenplay. Mel is a Bay Area Playwrights Festival finalist (2023 Honorable Mention), a Portland Center Stage finalist, and an O’Neill semi-finalist.
Mel is a member of the Plan-B Theatre Lab, Honor Roll!, and the Dramatists Guild. MFA, Iowa Playwrights Workshop. She enjoys travel, melty cheese, puzzles, nice paper, and nicer pens.
