Lava Alapai

Director, Voice of the Pacific Northwest Advisory Committee

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Lava Alapai is a writer and director born in Okinawa, Japan, and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii.
After graduating with her MFA in acting from California Institute of the Arts, Lava left Los Angeles, toured internationally as a puppeteer, and landed in Portland, Oregon, where she has been creating theatre for two decades.
Some of her writing credits include TikTok Zoom; Or, That One Time in 2020 (Eugene O’Neill NPC Semi-finalist) SUNNY’S GIFTS AND THINGS (Eugene O’Neill NPC Semi-finalist, MIDDLETOWN MALL (Eugene O’Neill NPC Semi-finalist), which received a world premiere with Third Rail Repertory Theatre in 2024, a contributing writer for THE EVENT FOR Artists Repertory Theatre, T.I.N.A for 48hour Film Festival (won best use of character), REDLINE for 24hr Theatre Festival, and MUTT for ManyHats Collaboration.
Some of her recent directing credits include TWO KIDS THAT BLOW SHIT UP Theatre Diaspora, THE KING OF THE YEES PROFILE Theatre, STAINS for Ashland New Plays Festival, BEATRICE Portland Opera, SCHOOL GIRLS, OR; THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY  Portland Center Stage/Artists Repertory Theatre co-production, THE CHINESE LADY, THE REVOLUTIONISTS, and AN OCTOROON (co-direction) for Artists Repertory Theatre, COLUMBINUS, CHARLOTTE’S WEB and LOCOMOTION for Oregon Children’s Theatre.
Lava has enjoyed working behind the camera as the director of photography and editor for ALEX GETTING BETTER, Oregon Children’s Theatre, SALT  Shaking the Tree Theatre, the NOVEMBER PROJECT for ManyHats Collaboration, and a multimedia pandemic project called TOUCH for Portland Center Stage.
She has also received an MFA from The University of British Columbia’s program in creative writing and theatre, a recipient of the 2024 AGE Legacy Playwright Award, 2023 Asscociate Artistic Director fellow at Artists Repertory Theatre, and a proud member of the Stage Directors & Choreographers Society (SDC) and Dramatists Guild.