Interview: Rosie Narasaki Is UNRIVALED In Continuing Her Family Tradition

Boston Court world premieres Rosie Narasaki's Unrivaled beginning March 16, 2023. Boston Court Associate Artistic Director Margaret Shigeko Starbuck directs this co-production with Playwrights' Arena featuring: David Huynh, Katie Kitani, Cindy Nguyen and Chelsea Yakura-Kurtz. Rosie was most gracious in answering a few of my queries.

Thank you for taking the time for this interview, Rosie!

What originally sparked your interest in exploring the rivalry between 11th century Ladies-in-Waiting Murasaki Shikibu and Sei Shonagon, the subject of Unrivaled?

I got to take a couple of classes about them in college! One was "Creating and Re-Creating Genji," taught by Professor Bruce Coats, and the other was "Japanese and Japanese American Women Writers," taught by Professor Lynne Miyake (who is actually the research dramaturg for this production!). I had a blast exploring "The Tale of Genji" and "The Pillow Book," and the fact that they'd both dissed each other in their respective diaries always stuck with me.

How long has the incubation period been since first pen on paper to this world premiere?

Oh gosh, it's been a while. Time flies! I think I started it in mid-2019. The first public reading was in March 2020 - a lot of my friends have told me it was the last live theatre event they went to before the lockdown. It's definitely lay dormant for a long time: I recently realized that the last draft was written back in 2021.

Is your script now set in stone? Or are you open to tweaking it further?

I'm working on rewrites as we speak!

What would your three-line pitch for Unrivaled be?

Whenever I try to describe it, I always ramble on about "the first novel ever written" and "Japanese ladies-in-waiting who were also poets" before eventually summing it up, "It's basically 'Mean Girls' set in 11th century Japan."

Have you worked with any of Unrivaled's cast or creatives before?

Oh, yes! A lot of them! I've been directed by Jon Rivera, and I got to workshop the play with Margaret Starbuck and Jessica Kubzansky at the Boston Court as part of its writing group. Katie Kitani and I have been in writing groups together and have acted in each other's rough drafts in various informal readings, David Huynh was in a 10-minute play I wrote a few years ago, and Chelsea Kurtz recently reminded me that I played her 8-year-old son in a reading once! Oh, and Letitia Chang stage-managed a reading of Tea I was in AND I met Jana Morimoto on a different production of Tea that my mom was in when I was in high school!! Sorry, this list is very long!

Do you identify with any of your Unrivaled characters more than others?

I keep on telling everyone that, because I am a big, fat narcissist, every single character is just me! Sometimes I joke to myself, in astrology terms, I am a Murasaki Sun, a Sei Moon, and a Teishi Rising. I relate to different things in each character - Teishi's scattered goofiness, Sei's hedonism and snark, Murasaki's guarded awkwardness, and Michinaga's boundless self-confidence.

If your family or friends came to see Unrivaled, would they recognized elements of themselves in your work?

My mom just told me the other day that she's Sei!

This is not the first time you've worked with Playwrights' Arena. You acted in their run of Little Women in 2017 (and again in a one-nighter I 2018). What cosmic forces originally brought you together with Playwrights' Arena?

Basically, I'm a nepo baby! My mom was acting in Playwrights' Arena's 2011 production of Blood Wedding, and I was home from college for the summer. She asked Jon if I could essentially be an extra in the play - she was like, "You don't have to pay her!" and he was like "Sure!" He gave me a couple of lines, a brief group dance number, and I moved a lot of furniture in the scene transitions.

Little Women was also a family affair - I played Amy and my parents, Sharon Omi and Ken Narasaki, played Marmee and Papa. That was a lot of fun.

So it was a no-brainer to world premiere Unrivaled with Playwrights' Arena?

Yes. I am such a fan of Jon and what he does for new works, and particularly new works written by BIPOC Los Angeles-based artists! Sometimes, I joke that I was raised by L.A.'s Asian American theatre community and he's such a big part of that.

How did Boston Court become involved?

I sent them the play during their open submissions window and they ended up workshopping it through the Boston Court Playwrights Group, which was a wonderful experience. Another nepo baby moment: My dad was in their 2004 production of A Winter People, which I loved and saw like four times. I definitely mentioned that in my cover letter!

What did you want to be growing up? An actor or a writer?

Neither! I wanted to be a librarian. As I mentioned, my parents are both actors (and playwrights/directors/producers/etc.), and I thought they were both a little crazy. I was super shy as a kid and couldn't imagine voluntarily speaking in front of an audience. Plus, there's just so much uncertainty and rejection involved in the profession (especially for Asian Americans in the 90s).

But they raised me to have such an appreciation for theatre that I eventually got bitten by the bug. One of the things that really sealed the deal was watching them produce my dad's play No-No Boy in 2010 (which is now available as a radio play through L.A. Theatre Works). It was a beautiful production, and I was so proud of both of them. And as a young adult, I was finally able to appreciate the "it takes a village" sense of community that sometimes feels unique to small theatre.

What's in the near future for Rosie Narasaki?

No clue! Fingers crossed for more good things, hopefully!

Thank you again, Rosie! I look forward to meeting your Rivals.

For tickets to the live performances of Unrivaled through April 23, 2023; click on the button below:

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