Melissa Leilani Larson
@mleilani.bsky.social
Playwright and screenwriter. Mixed-race Filipino. Femme stories, awkward dialogue, puzzles, melty cheese, nice paper, and nicer pens. she/her 💙🌺
bio.site/mel_leilani
bio.site/mel_leilani
Pinned
InHouse Theatre
www.inhousetheatre.org
My play A FORM OF FLATTERY has been selected to receive a staged reading as part of InHouse Theatre Co.'s Celebration of New Plays happening later this month in Los Angeles. www.inhousetheatre.org #playwrightlife
I'm spending Saturday night scouring the interwebs for vintage stained glass Christmas cards as one does when one should be writing... #playwrightlife
November 9, 2025 at 2:37 AM
I'm spending Saturday night scouring the interwebs for vintage stained glass Christmas cards as one does when one should be writing... #playwrightlife
What a stunning fall morning. Let’s all use it to vote.
November 4, 2025 at 3:22 PM
What a stunning fall morning. Let’s all use it to vote.
Sometimes all you can do is eat pizza.
October 31, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Sometimes all you can do is eat pizza.
It's the kind of day when it takes all afternoon to draft an email. Probably insignificant to everyone else, I know. But it feels like my career is hanging in the balance. You know. Small potatoes. Woohoo! #playwrightlife
October 14, 2025 at 10:28 PM
It's the kind of day when it takes all afternoon to draft an email. Probably insignificant to everyone else, I know. But it feels like my career is hanging in the balance. You know. Small potatoes. Woohoo! #playwrightlife
There are too many things in my brain. It’s easy to lose track. Get off track? Squirrel. #amwriting #newplay
October 11, 2025 at 4:07 PM
There are too many things in my brain. It’s easy to lose track. Get off track? Squirrel. #amwriting #newplay
A book club in another state, to which I have no connection, reached out to let me know they will be reading my little book of plays for an upcoming meeting. Is there a word for being simultaneously thrilled and terrified all at once? #playwrightlife
October 10, 2025 at 2:38 AM
A book club in another state, to which I have no connection, reached out to let me know they will be reading my little book of plays for an upcoming meeting. Is there a word for being simultaneously thrilled and terrified all at once? #playwrightlife
I hope whichever of my neighbors is playing that music is enjoying it, because all I can hear is the pulse of the bass and it's making me a little anxious.
October 7, 2025 at 8:55 PM
I hope whichever of my neighbors is playing that music is enjoying it, because all I can hear is the pulse of the bass and it's making me a little anxious.
Turning the fireplace on for the first time this season. Brr.
October 5, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Turning the fireplace on for the first time this season. Brr.
My play A FORM OF FLATTERY has been selected to receive a staged reading as part of InHouse Theatre Co.'s Celebration of New Plays happening later this month in Los Angeles. www.inhousetheatre.org #playwrightlife
InHouse Theatre
www.inhousetheatre.org
October 3, 2025 at 10:44 PM
My play A FORM OF FLATTERY has been selected to receive a staged reading as part of InHouse Theatre Co.'s Celebration of New Plays happening later this month in Los Angeles. www.inhousetheatre.org #playwrightlife
Good news in the mails.
October 3, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Good news in the mails.
PSA: If you’re campaigning to get a Nobel Prize, you’re doing it wrong.
September 24, 2025 at 2:12 AM
PSA: If you’re campaigning to get a Nobel Prize, you’re doing it wrong.
I would like to have more irony on stage than in real life, please and thank you.
September 18, 2025 at 2:45 AM
I would like to have more irony on stage than in real life, please and thank you.
I just visited a high school English class to talk about adaptation, and discussing art with those young people gave me the most hope I've felt in this broken world in a long while. Probably since the last time I got to sit in a room full of young people! Imagine that. #playwrightlife
September 16, 2025 at 5:12 PM
I just visited a high school English class to talk about adaptation, and discussing art with those young people gave me the most hope I've felt in this broken world in a long while. Probably since the last time I got to sit in a room full of young people! Imagine that. #playwrightlife
Tonight I was able to lose myself for a few hours in revising a play and I'm so thankful. Bonus points: the play does not suck. #SnailMail #newplay #playwrightlife
September 12, 2025 at 6:25 AM
Tonight I was able to lose myself for a few hours in revising a play and I'm so thankful. Bonus points: the play does not suck. #SnailMail #newplay #playwrightlife
I did not fall into a steaming volcano caldera just now, so I’m counting that as a win.
September 7, 2025 at 4:26 AM
I did not fall into a steaming volcano caldera just now, so I’m counting that as a win.
The OED definition of “vacation”: watching the newest episode of the Great British Baking Show from one’s hotel room in Kona.
September 6, 2025 at 7:36 AM
The OED definition of “vacation”: watching the newest episode of the Great British Baking Show from one’s hotel room in Kona.
Dear Iowa friends: Grinnell College is doing a staged reading of GIN MUMMY to kick off their theatre season! The reading is free and open to the public, and it's happening TONIGHT at 7 p.m. CT. #playwrightlife events.grinnell.edu/event/32592-...
Season Kickoff and Gin Mummy
Fall welcome event and staged reading of a comedy. Come play with us this semester!
events.grinnell.edu
August 30, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Dear Iowa friends: Grinnell College is doing a staged reading of GIN MUMMY to kick off their theatre season! The reading is free and open to the public, and it's happening TONIGHT at 7 p.m. CT. #playwrightlife events.grinnell.edu/event/32592-...
I'm so excited for this film. I cannot fully express how much the novel moved me. #Hamnet youtu.be/E2xtmPkuksA?...
HAMNET - Official Teaser Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters Thanksgiving
YouTube video by Focus Features
youtu.be
August 26, 2025 at 3:45 PM
I'm so excited for this film. I cannot fully express how much the novel moved me. #Hamnet youtu.be/E2xtmPkuksA?...
What kind of nerd am I? Well, I just ordered a heavy duty 3-hole punch—40 pages at a time, baby. Of course I got the green one. #playwrightlife
August 26, 2025 at 2:18 PM
What kind of nerd am I? Well, I just ordered a heavy duty 3-hole punch—40 pages at a time, baby. Of course I got the green one. #playwrightlife
Just revising the whole show in a weekend. Nothing to see here… #newplay #playwrightlife
August 24, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Just revising the whole show in a weekend. Nothing to see here… #newplay #playwrightlife
Reposted by Melissa Leilani Larson
Great cities have great libraries.
Great libraries build great cities.
More of this, please, Mr. Mamdani. And to anyone else running for mayor of any other city, maybe think about doing the same.
Great libraries build great cities.
More of this, please, Mr. Mamdani. And to anyone else running for mayor of any other city, maybe think about doing the same.
Eleven more libraries will reopen on Sundays, thanks to the leadership of the City Council. They never should've been closed in the first place.
As Mayor, I'll end this absurd budget dance that keeps our beloved libraries in limbo year after year.
As Mayor, I'll end this absurd budget dance that keeps our beloved libraries in limbo year after year.
11 more NYC libraries will soon open on Sundays
A $2 million City Council deal will expand seven-day service to more than 30 branches citywide.
gothamist.com
August 5, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Great cities have great libraries.
Great libraries build great cities.
More of this, please, Mr. Mamdani. And to anyone else running for mayor of any other city, maybe think about doing the same.
Great libraries build great cities.
More of this, please, Mr. Mamdani. And to anyone else running for mayor of any other city, maybe think about doing the same.
Two table reads in as many weeks. It's good to be busy, but I need to work harder at putting space between projects. Having space to breathe between things is nice, especially when the two shows are so different. #playwrightlife
August 2, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Two table reads in as many weeks. It's good to be busy, but I need to work harder at putting space between projects. Having space to breathe between things is nice, especially when the two shows are so different. #playwrightlife
Is it a weird thing to pray for magic? #amwriting
July 31, 2025 at 4:40 AM
Is it a weird thing to pray for magic? #amwriting
The dryness never fails to creep in as soon as I land back in Salt Lake. I’m waiting at the baggage carousel and regretting packing my lotion in my suitcase.
July 29, 2025 at 2:50 AM
The dryness never fails to creep in as soon as I land back in Salt Lake. I’m waiting at the baggage carousel and regretting packing my lotion in my suitcase.
If you are perimenopausal, one of the best gifts you can give yourself is a sturdy folding fan. Take it with you everywhere and life will be so much more pleasant.
July 28, 2025 at 2:31 PM
If you are perimenopausal, one of the best gifts you can give yourself is a sturdy folding fan. Take it with you everywhere and life will be so much more pleasant.