ABOUT PRINCE GOMOLVILAS
Prince Gomolvilas (กมลพัฒน์ โกมลวิลาศ) is widely known as the first Thai-American playwright. His work has been produced internationally, and he is a winner of a PEN Center USA Literary Award for Drama. His critically acclaimed ghost story, The Brothers Paranormal, debuted Off-Broadway at the Beckett Theatre, in a production by Pan Asian Repertory Theatre. It has since been published by Dramatic Publishing and performed across the United States and Canada. He received an unprecedented co-commission from East West Players, Perseverance Theatre, and Theatre Mu to write a standalone sequel to The Brothers Paranormal titled Paranormal Inside, a cross-cultural supernatural thriller about possessions and exorcisms which is in the middle of a three-city rolling world premiere (Los Angeles, Juneau, Minneapolis). He is currently working on Artificial, a comedy about AI technology, which was commissioned by SPARC Theater and further developed by Boise Contemporary Theater and Olney Theatre Center. He is a former Assistant Professor of Writing at the University of Southern California.
MORE ABOUT PRINCE
Full-Length Plays
- Artificial (in development)
- Paranormal Inside (2025)
- The Brothers Paranormal (2019)
- Mysterious Skin (2003)
- Boyz of All Nationz: The Rise and Fall of a Multi-Ethnic Boy Band (2002)
- Bee (2001)
- Debunking Love (2000)
- The Theory of Everything (2000)
- Seat Belts and Big Fat Buddhas (1999)
- Big Hunk o' Burnin' Love (1998)
Theatre-for-Youth Shows
- Oskar's Not-So-Simple Comeback (2022)
- Oskar and the Shockingly Bad Internet Connection (2021)
- Scrimmage (2019)
- Oskar Versus Thingamabob (2018)
- Oskar and the Big Bully Battle, Part 2 (2016)
- Oskar and the Countless Costume Changes (2016)
- Oskar and the Curiously Colorful Clash (2015)
- Oskar and the Last Straw (2012)
- Oskar and the Big Bully Battle (2009)
- Oskar: The Kid That Could (2006)
- OutSpoken (2005)
Jukebox Stories and Storytelling
Jukebox Stories is an innovative storytelling/song-singing/bingo-playing theatrical extravaganza, featuring storyteller Prince Gomolvilas and musician Brandon Patton. In addition to their three critically acclaimed full-length shows at Impact Theatre in Berkeley, they have also toured to theaters, bars, colleges, comedy clubs, coffeehouses, music venues, bowling alleys, and other weird performance spaces around the U.S., as well as to the National Asian American Theater Festival.
- Jukebox Stories: The Secrets of Forking (2013)
- Jukebox Stories: The Case of the Creamy Foam (2008)
- Jukebox Stories (2006)
Prince has also presented his funny but true stories at such venues as:
- APAture Arts Festival (San Francisco)
- Barnes & Noble (Los Angeles)
- A Different Light Bookstore (West Hollywood)
- Intersection for the Arts (San Francisco)
- [Inside] the Ford Amphitheatre (Los Angeles)
- Los Angeles Times Festival of Books (Los Angeles)
- Occidental College (Los Angeles)
- Tell It on Tuesday (Berkeley)
- University of California, Irvine (Irvine, CA)
Film, Television
Early in Prince's writing career, he was selected for a screenwriting fellowship with The Chesterfield Writer's Film Project, a program sponsored by Paramount Pictures. He was among that program's last cohort.
He wrote the screenplay for Lunchtime, a short film directed by Keo Woolford, which screened at numerous festivals, including:
- Asian American International Film Festival
- Boston Asian American Film Festival
- Frameline's San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival
- Hawaii Rainbow Film Festival
- Outfest: The Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
- San Diego Asian Film Festival
- Sicilia Queer FilmFest
- Thessaloniki International LGBTQ Film Festival
- Tokyo Asian Queer Film Festival
He co-created (with Matt Ackels) a science-fiction television series, which was sold to and developed by Amazon Studios. After writing the first three episodes, the show is still "in development," which is either a blessing or a curse.
He has been a guest speaker at the Asian World Film Festival and served on the jury of the Southeast European Film Festival.
Awards, Fellowships, Grants
- Los Angeles New Play Project Award for Paranormal Inside (2025)
- APAFT Artists Reception Honoring Comedy for Outstanding Comedy Performer, Playwright, and Storyteller (2013)
- East West Players' Made in America Award for Outstanding Artistic Achievement for the Asian Pacific Islander Community (2006)
- The Chesterfield Writer's Film Project Screenwriting Fellowship (in association with Paramount Pictures) (2003)
- SWTA National New Play Contest (Finalist) for Model Citizens (2003)
- Center Theatre Group Asian Theatre Workshop Playwright Fellowship for Yes M.S.G. (2002)
- Pacificus Foundation Literary Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Drama (2002)
- National Endowment for the Arts/TCG Residency Program for Playwrights for Mysterious Skin (2001)
- PEN Center USA Literary Award for Drama for The Theory of Everything (2001)
- Gerbode Foundation New Play Production Award for Bee (2000)
- National Play Award (Runner-Up) for Model Citizens (2000)
- International Herald Tribune/SRT Playwriting Award for The Theory of Everything (1998)
- Orange County Playwrights Alliance Page-to-Stage Competition (First Prize) for Donut Holes in Orbit (1998)
- Julie Harris/Janet and Maxwell Salter Playwright Award for The Theory of Everything (1998)
- Santa Cruz Actors' Theatre One-Act Play Award for Cause and Effect on Clement Street (1997)
- Jim Highsmith Playwriting Competition (Runner-Up) for Cause and Effect on Clement Street (1997)
- Artrise Theatre One-Act Play Award for Donut Holes in Orbit (1997)
- California Playwrights Competition (Second Prize) for Big Hunk o’ Burnin’ Love (1996)
- Julie Harris/Janet and Maxwell Salter Playwright Award (Finalist) for Big Hunk o’ Burnin’ Love (1996)
- SFSU Review One-Act Play Award for Sound Barriers (1995)
- Lawrence and Lee Playwriting Award for All Men Are Liars (1994)
New-Play Commissions
- SPARC Theater for Artificial (2023)
- East West Players, Perseverance Theatre, and Theater Mu for Paranormal Inside (2022)
- Geva Theatre Center for Panorama (2017)
- Bay Area Playwrights Festival for Emophiliacs (2004)
- Asian Stories in America Theatre for Boyz of All Nationz: The Rise and Fall of a Multi-Ethnic Boy Band (2001)
- New Conservatory Theatre Center for Mysterious Skin (2001)
- Lorraine Hansberry Theatre for Bee (2000)
- South Coast Repertory for The Theory of Everything (1996)
Speaking Engagements
Live Discussion Panels (as Moderator or Speaker)
- Asian World Film Festival (Culver City)
- Bay Area Playwrights Festival (San Francisco)
- Boston Conservatory at Berklee (Boston)
- California College of the Arts (Oakland)
- California State University, Fresno (Fresno)
- California State University, Los Angeles (Los Angeles)
- East West Players (Los Angeles)
- National Asian American Theater Conference (Minneapolis & Ashland)
- Pomona College (Pomona)
- Portland State University (Portland)
- San Francisco Arts Institute (San Francisco)
- San Francisco State University (San Francisco)
- Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC)
- State University of New York, Geneseo (Geneseo, NY)
- University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley)
- University of California, Irvine (Irvine)
- University of California, Los Angeles (Los Angeles)
- University of California, Riverside (Riverside)
- University of California, Riverside-Palm Desert (Palm Desert)
- University of Colorado, Boulder (Boulder)
- University of Southern California (Los Angeles)
Teaching
Academic Apppointments
- Assistant Professor of Writing at the University of Southern California (Former)
- Associate Director of the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California (Former)
Writing Workshops
- Center Theatre Group (Los Angeles)
- Cerro Coso Community College (Ridgecrest)
- David Henry Hwang Writers Institute at East West Players (Los Angeles)
- Kearny Street Workshop's Intergenerational Writers Lab (San Francisco)
- New Conservatory Theatre Center's Playwrights Workshop (San Francisco)
- Playwrights Foundation (San Francisco)
- State University of New York, Geneseo (Geneseo)
- Theatre Diaspora (Portland)
- TheatreWorks' Young Playwrights Project (San Francisco Bay Area)
Education
- MFA, Creative Writing (Playwriting), San Francisco State University
- BA, Cinema (Screenwriting), San Francisco State Unversity
Copyright © 2025 by Prince Gomolvilas