TALENT: Playwright

Noa Gardner is a Native Hawaiian playwright born and raised in Kaimuki on the island of Oʻahu and a graduate of the MFA Dramatic Writing program at the University of Southern California (2020).

Using August Wilson as a model, Noa is interested in presenting a body of work through his plays that speak to different facets of Hawaiian culture, presenting to an audience (sometimes for the very first time) a glimpse into the deep interior lives of Hawaiian people.

Currently, Noa lives on Oʻahu and is a student at the University of Hawai’i Manoa seeking a second undergraduate degree in both Hawaiian Language and Hawaiian Studies. His day jobs includes transcribing Hawaiian language tapes/interviews as well as working as an educational assistant at a Hawaiian language immersion school.

He was a National Finalist for the Gary Garrison Ten Minute play award (2016), recipient of South Coast Repertory’s Elizabeth George commission (2021), a semi-finalist of the Eugene O’Neil (2021), and a finalist for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival (2023) and has had his one act and full-length plays read in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the Son of Semele Ensemble, the Los Angeles Theatre Company, Artists at Play, and the Pasadena Playhouse.