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Melissa Leilani Larson
Rachel Helps (BYU): info about parents
'''Melissa Leilani Larson''' is a writer and playwright based in Salt Lake City, Utah. [[Mormon literature]] critic Michael Austin described her as "one of the true rising stars of Mormon literature."<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> Her plays commonly feature women in leading roles, and some center around the faith of members of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].
==Education and career==
Larson is from [[Hauʻula, Hawaii|Hau'ula, Hawaii]].<ref name="mormonartist" /> Her mother was Philipino and her father was English/Swedish. Her family moved to Salt Lake City when she was twelve years old.<ref></ref> She received a Bachelor's in English from [[Brigham Young University]] (BYU) and an MFA from The Iowa Playwrights Workshop. She names [[Helen Edmundson]], [[Sarah Ruhl]], [[Richard Greenberg]], [[Timberlake Wertenbaker]], [[Lillian Hellman]], and [[Oscar Wilde]] as some of her favorite playwrights.<ref name=mormonartist/> Larson has contributed to LDS Church History's ''Saints: The Standard of Truth''.<ref name=aml/>
==Plays==
Larson won the [[Association for Mormon Letters]] (AML) 2009 award for drama for ''Happy Little Secrets''.<ref></ref> Her 2010 play ''A Flickering'' featured a filmmaker and actress who are friends, and was set in the early 1900s during the silent film era. Critic Katie Roundy found the live piano music and title cards occasionally distracted from the main action, but that the play left her "wanting more."<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> ''A Flickering'' was a Trustus Playwrights Festival finalist.<ref name=planb/>
After a successful stage adaptation of ''Persuasion'', BYU commissioned her stage adaptation of ''Pride and Prejudice''.<ref name=mormonartist></ref> The adaptation was a finalist in the 2014 Association for Mormon Letters award for drama.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> ''Salt Lake City Weekly'' gave ''Pride and Prejudice'' a "Best Modern Jane" headline, stating that Larson's adaptation felt "fresh without resorting to gimmickry."<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> At the Utah Theater Bloggers Association, the play was spotlighted in a 2014 roundup under "Excellent New Plays."<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> Reviewer Zach Archuleta wrote that the adaptation was "a worthy addition to the canon of adaptations."<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> Barta Heiner directed both plays.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref>
Larson co-wrote a musical adaptation of [[Silas Marner]] called ''The Weaver of Raveloe'' in 2013, and the play was produced in 2014.<ref></ref> She participated in Plan-B Studio's lab for playwrights,<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> and ''Pilot Program'' was her first play shown there.<ref name=planb>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> At ''The Utah Review'', reviewer Les Roka stated that ''Pilot Program'' focused on the living room drama of the imagined future LDS polygamy. Les Roka described it as "a compelling tableau of social messages and contemplation of religious identity that resonates with the depth of exploration suggested in the works of Henrik Ibsen, August Strindberg and Gerhart Hauptmann." <ref></ref> The play won AML's 2015 award for drama<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref>
Her 2016 play ''The Edible Complex'' was written for elementary school students and has actors taking on the roles of Larson's favorite foods.<ref> Plan-B Theatre Company |url=https://ift.tt/325SkRG |publisher=Plan-B Theater Company |date=2 September 2016}}</ref> The play addressed eating disorders.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> ''Sweetheart Come'' was a 2016 O'Neill National Playwrights Conference Semifinalist. Critic Palak Jayswal wrote that the play "encourages empathy while breaking the stigma about isolation and unhappiness."<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref>
==Films==
Larson collaborated with Garrett Batty on the script for [[Freetown (film)|''Freetown'']] (2016), a movie about six Liberian LDS missionaries fleeing the country in the [[First Liberian Civil War]].<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref><ref name=freetown></ref> ''Freetown'' won the 2016 Utah Film Award for Best Feature Film<ref></ref> and the 2015 Ghana Movie Award for Best Screenplay.<ref name=freetown/>
The film ''Jane and Emma'' (2018) focused on the friendship between [[Jane Elizabeth Manning James]] and [[Emma Smith]], examining racial issues in the early LDS church.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> It appeared on a list of films that fulfilled ReFrame's criteria for gender-balanced and racially diverse films.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> Sales from the film's opening night were matched by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' foundation and the Bonneville Charitable Foundation and given as a donation to the NAACP Salt Lake Branch.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> Larson studied the journals of both women in writing the script, and stated that the film is "not about preaching to people. It's about these two women and their relationship."<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> Mariah Proctor at ''Meridian'' magazine wrote that the film "issues an invitation to a conversation" about the two women and their relationship to each other and the LDS Church.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> ''Jane and Emma'' won the Feature Film award at the LDS Film Festival, as well as the Audience Award in the same category.<ref></ref> The film was also a finalist in the 2018 Narrative Film category at the Association for Mormon Letters.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref>
==Other awards==
''Martyrs' Crossing'' was a IRAM Best New Play. ''Standing Still Standing'' won a Mayhew award. ''Lady in Waiting'' was the winner of the Lewis National Playwriting Contest for Women.<ref name=planb/> Larson won the 2003 award for drama for ''Wake Me When It's Over''.<ref></ref>
Larson received the Smith-Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters in 2019. The award citation stated that Larson "offers herself as a witness to both the pain and faith of her fellow Saints when their obedience to God pushes them up against the limits of their endurance."<ref name=aml>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref>
==Publications==
Her plays ''Little Happy Secrets'' and ''Pilot Program'' were published together in a book called ''Third Wheel'' in 2017 by BCC Press.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> "Little Happy Secrets" has been adapted into audio format.<ref name=mormonartist/><ref></ref>
==References==
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:American women dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century American women writers]]
[[Category:Screenwriters from Hawaii]]
[[Category:American women of Filipino descent]]
==Education and career==
Larson is from [[Hauʻula, Hawaii|Hau'ula, Hawaii]].<ref name="mormonartist" /> Her mother was Philipino and her father was English/Swedish. Her family moved to Salt Lake City when she was twelve years old.<ref></ref> She received a Bachelor's in English from [[Brigham Young University]] (BYU) and an MFA from The Iowa Playwrights Workshop. She names [[Helen Edmundson]], [[Sarah Ruhl]], [[Richard Greenberg]], [[Timberlake Wertenbaker]], [[Lillian Hellman]], and [[Oscar Wilde]] as some of her favorite playwrights.<ref name=mormonartist/> Larson has contributed to LDS Church History's ''Saints: The Standard of Truth''.<ref name=aml/>
==Plays==
Larson won the [[Association for Mormon Letters]] (AML) 2009 award for drama for ''Happy Little Secrets''.<ref></ref> Her 2010 play ''A Flickering'' featured a filmmaker and actress who are friends, and was set in the early 1900s during the silent film era. Critic Katie Roundy found the live piano music and title cards occasionally distracted from the main action, but that the play left her "wanting more."<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> ''A Flickering'' was a Trustus Playwrights Festival finalist.<ref name=planb/>
After a successful stage adaptation of ''Persuasion'', BYU commissioned her stage adaptation of ''Pride and Prejudice''.<ref name=mormonartist></ref> The adaptation was a finalist in the 2014 Association for Mormon Letters award for drama.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> ''Salt Lake City Weekly'' gave ''Pride and Prejudice'' a "Best Modern Jane" headline, stating that Larson's adaptation felt "fresh without resorting to gimmickry."<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> At the Utah Theater Bloggers Association, the play was spotlighted in a 2014 roundup under "Excellent New Plays."<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> Reviewer Zach Archuleta wrote that the adaptation was "a worthy addition to the canon of adaptations."<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> Barta Heiner directed both plays.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref>
Larson co-wrote a musical adaptation of [[Silas Marner]] called ''The Weaver of Raveloe'' in 2013, and the play was produced in 2014.<ref></ref> She participated in Plan-B Studio's lab for playwrights,<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> and ''Pilot Program'' was her first play shown there.<ref name=planb>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> At ''The Utah Review'', reviewer Les Roka stated that ''Pilot Program'' focused on the living room drama of the imagined future LDS polygamy. Les Roka described it as "a compelling tableau of social messages and contemplation of religious identity that resonates with the depth of exploration suggested in the works of Henrik Ibsen, August Strindberg and Gerhart Hauptmann." <ref></ref> The play won AML's 2015 award for drama<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref>
Her 2016 play ''The Edible Complex'' was written for elementary school students and has actors taking on the roles of Larson's favorite foods.<ref> Plan-B Theatre Company |url=https://ift.tt/325SkRG |publisher=Plan-B Theater Company |date=2 September 2016}}</ref> The play addressed eating disorders.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> ''Sweetheart Come'' was a 2016 O'Neill National Playwrights Conference Semifinalist. Critic Palak Jayswal wrote that the play "encourages empathy while breaking the stigma about isolation and unhappiness."<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref>
==Films==
Larson collaborated with Garrett Batty on the script for [[Freetown (film)|''Freetown'']] (2016), a movie about six Liberian LDS missionaries fleeing the country in the [[First Liberian Civil War]].<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref><ref name=freetown></ref> ''Freetown'' won the 2016 Utah Film Award for Best Feature Film<ref></ref> and the 2015 Ghana Movie Award for Best Screenplay.<ref name=freetown/>
The film ''Jane and Emma'' (2018) focused on the friendship between [[Jane Elizabeth Manning James]] and [[Emma Smith]], examining racial issues in the early LDS church.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> It appeared on a list of films that fulfilled ReFrame's criteria for gender-balanced and racially diverse films.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> Sales from the film's opening night were matched by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' foundation and the Bonneville Charitable Foundation and given as a donation to the NAACP Salt Lake Branch.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> Larson studied the journals of both women in writing the script, and stated that the film is "not about preaching to people. It's about these two women and their relationship."<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> Mariah Proctor at ''Meridian'' magazine wrote that the film "issues an invitation to a conversation" about the two women and their relationship to each other and the LDS Church.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> ''Jane and Emma'' won the Feature Film award at the LDS Film Festival, as well as the Audience Award in the same category.<ref></ref> The film was also a finalist in the 2018 Narrative Film category at the Association for Mormon Letters.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref>
==Other awards==
''Martyrs' Crossing'' was a IRAM Best New Play. ''Standing Still Standing'' won a Mayhew award. ''Lady in Waiting'' was the winner of the Lewis National Playwriting Contest for Women.<ref name=planb/> Larson won the 2003 award for drama for ''Wake Me When It's Over''.<ref></ref>
Larson received the Smith-Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters in 2019. The award citation stated that Larson "offers herself as a witness to both the pain and faith of her fellow Saints when their obedience to God pushes them up against the limits of their endurance."<ref name=aml>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref>
==Publications==
Her plays ''Little Happy Secrets'' and ''Pilot Program'' were published together in a book called ''Third Wheel'' in 2017 by BCC Press.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> "Little Happy Secrets" has been adapted into audio format.<ref name=mormonartist/><ref></ref>
==References==
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:American women dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century American women writers]]
[[Category:Screenwriters from Hawaii]]
[[Category:American women of Filipino descent]]
October 10, 2019 at 04:48AM
