I’m ShayShay, a Japanese-Irish-American non-binary writer working in theatre, live performance and TV.
Growing up in California, and having lived in London for 10 years, I’ve developed a transatlantic writing sensibility that speaks directly to global audiences.
My passion lies in spotlighting underrepresented narratives, offering authentic representation to marginalised identities, while also making these stories accessible to a broad audience.
Hailing from drag/cabaret, I fuse camp comedy with high drama.
My playwriting includes three semi-immersive plays at The Vaults: “Aladdin & The Feast of Wonders” (2019-20), “Mulan Rouge” (2021- 22), and “The Witches of Oz” (2022-23), which collectively sold 20k+ tickets.
My work has also appeared at Southbank Centre, The Pleasance, Garrick Theatre & Underbelly Festival. I’ve honed my writing via Soho Theatre Writers Lab (‘22), Edinburgh TV Fest’s “The Network” (‘22), Criterion Theatre New Writing (‘23) & New Earth Theatre’s Writers Academy Plus (‘23).
In 2023, My pilot script “Ninja Kween” was a Golden Script Competition’s (Best TV Pilot) Finalist and was longlisted for Sister Pictures & South of the River’s “Screenshot” competition.
My work as co-founder of The Bitten Peach, a queer Pan-Asian artist collective, I was the focus of the Iris-prize nominated documentary “Peach Paradise” (Netflix, 2022).
