Peerless

Peerless

by  Jiehae Park

Full Length Play, Dark Comedy  /  2m, 3f

"Peerlessis neither an over-the-top farce nor a moralistic downer. It's frothy fun, full of goofy dancing and awkward romantic fumbles in the classic John Hughes style. Yet Peerless is as scary as it is silly. It's about anger and cruelty and danger and life and death. It's also about coming-of-age and coming to grips with mortality." - Hartford Courant
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Peerless

by  Jiehae Park

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Peerless

  • Cast Size

    Cast Size

    2m, 3f
  • Duration

    Duration

    90 minutes
  • SubGenre

    Subgenre

    Adaptations (Shakespeare)
  • Audience

    Target Audience

    • Adult

Additional Info

Asian-American twins M and L have given up everything to get into The College. So when D, a one-sixteenth Native American classmate, gets “their” spot instead, they figure they’ve got only one option: kill him. A darkly comedic take on Shakespeare’s Macbeth about the very ambitious and the cut-throat world of high school during college admissions.

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Reviews

REVIEWS 

"Peerless is neither an over-the-top farce nor a moralistic downer. It's frothy fun, full of goofy dancing and awkward romantic fumbles in the classic John Hughes style. Yet Peerless is as scary as it is silly. It's about anger and cruelty and danger and life and death. It's also about coming-of-age and coming to grips with mortality." - Hartford Courant, Read More 

"[...] a theatrical genre-bending piece [...] Peerless is concerned not only about the broader socio-academic-cultural issue but also the human toll." - The Berkshire Eagle, Read More 

"With its staccato rhythms, short scenes, and farcical characters, unlike any you’ve ever seen before onstage, it’s hard to know how to characterize this play, except to say that it’s unexpectedly wonderful." - The Arts Fuse, Read More 

"[...] suitably spooky, fitfully funny [...]" - San Diego Union-Tribune, Read More

ON BREAKING CHARACTER

Our Picks for 2019 Fall Plays
Samuel French  
March 27, 2019

5 Things I Learned from Performing in Peerless by Jiehae Park
Coryn Carson
December 3, 2018

Playwright Interview: Jiehae Park
by Trevor Reece
November 8, 2018


Videos

  • Reviews for Peerless at Yale Rep
  • Behind the scenes of Yale Rep's Peerless.
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Keywords

Betrayal, Death, Friendship, Parenting/Family, Asian-American Interest, Adolescence/Childhood

Considerations

Performing Groups

  • College Theatre / Student
  • Professional Theatre
  • Blackbox / Second Stage /Fringe Groups

Cautions

  • Caution Strong Language Strong Language
  • Caution Mild Adult Mild Adult Themes
  • Caution Smoking Smoking

License details

  • Minimum Fee: $100 per performance

Production

Details

  • Time Period: Contemporary
  • Duration: 90 minutes
  • Setting: Midwestern suburbia. High School.
  • Additional Features: No intermission

Casting

2m, 3f
M & L - twin sisters. Asian
BF - M’s boyfriend. Black
D - male. Looks (really) white. 1/16 Native American.
DIRTY GIRL - aka Caroline aka That Weird Girl in High School You Know The One.
D’s BROTHER - (doubles with D)
PREPPY GIRL - (doubles with DIRTY GIRL) 
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Cast Attributes

  • Role(s) for Asian Actor(s)
  • Role(s) for Black Actor(s)
  • Reduced casting (Doubling Possible)

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Authors

Jiehae Park

Jiehae Park

Jiehae Park's plays include peerless (Yale Rep premiere, Cherry Lane MP, Marin Theatre Co, Barrington Stage, First Floor, Company One, Moxie), Hannah and the Dread Gazebo (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Here We Are Here (Sundance Theater-Makers residency, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, Princess Grace Works-in-Progress @ B ...

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Peerless premiered at the Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven, CT in November 2015 under the direction of Margot Bordelon.

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