Ken Narasaki (born April 4, 1958) is an American playwright and actor. He is the former Literary Manager at East West Players theatre company in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He is the twin brother of civil rights leader

Karen Narasaki Karen K. Narasaki (born April 4, 1958) is an American civil rights leader and human rights activist. She most recently served as a Commissioner on the United States Commission on Civil Rights after President Barack Obama appointed her in July 201 ...

Actor

Narasaki has appeared in a number of independent features including Jon Moritsugu's '' Terminal USA'' (1993), Chris Chan Lee's ''

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'' (1998), John Huckert's '' Hard'' (also in 1998) and Lane Nishikawa's '' Only the Brave'' (2006). Narasaki learned to speak German when he was cast as the lead in the German television series, ''Zwei Profis'' in 2002. He has appeared in over 65 plays in Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York's Lincoln Center Theatre in the world premiere of Samuel D. Hunter's " Greater Clements", for which he was nominated for a Lucille Lortel award for featured actor in 2019.

Playwright

Narasaki's ''Ghosts and Baggage'' was produced at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in 1998. ''Innocent When You Dream'' was produced in 2007 at the Electric Lodge in

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and was performed at the

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in 2008, as part of the "Day of Remembrance" of

Executive Order 9066 Executive Order 9066 was a President of the United States, United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. "This order authorized the fo ...

. ''The Mikado Project'', co-written with Doris Baizley, was produced by

Lodestone Theatre Ensemble Lodestone Theatre Ensemble was a non-profit Asian American theatre organization in Los Angeles, founded in 1999. It was a membership-driven organization. The ensemble disbanded in 2009. History In 1995, following the 1992 Los Angeles riots, v ...

at the Grove Center Theatre in

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in 2007. '' No-No Boy'', adapted from the novel " No-No Boy" by John Okada, received its world premiere at the Miles Memorial Playhouse in

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in 2010. It went on to be produced by the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre at Theatre Row in 2014, and in

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in 2016. No-No Boy, directed by Anna Lyse Erikson was a finalist for a 2022

Audie Award The Audie Awards (, rhymes with "gaudy"; abbreviated from ''audiobook''), or simply the Audies, are awards for achievement in spoken word, particularly audiobook narration and audiodrama performance, published in the United States of America. They ...

for Outstanding Drama. His Innocent When You Dream was also directed by Anna Lyse Erikson and produced by Los Angeles Theater Works in 2024.

Plays

* '' Ghosts and Baggage'' * '' The Mikado Project'' - (co-written with Doris Baizley) * '' Innocent When You Dream'' * '' No-No Boy''

Awards

* 2007 Kumu Kahua Theatre Pacific Rim Playwrights Award - ''Innocent When You Dream'' * 2008 Pacific Rim Playwriting Award - ''The Mikado Project'' * 2022 (finalist) Audie Award for Outstanding Drama

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Narasaki, Ken 1958 births Living people American twins American dramatists and playwrights of Japanese descent Male actors from Seattle Writers from Los Angeles County, California American male actors of Japanese descent American male film actors American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers