Work samples

  • Barkeep at Lumos

    Barkeep is an immersive theatrical experience that takes place in the backroom of a bar. The story of Meng Po (Grandmother Meng) is a Chinese tradition that details the events that occur leading up to the moment of reincarnation. Legend has it that Meng Po prepares a brew that everyone must drink before being reborn. This brew, called the Five Flavored Tea, makes the drinker forget everything about their past life, allowing them to enter their new life with a blank slate. Barkeep combines this story with the very human habit of drinking to forget to create the backdrop for the evening. 

    Guests  enter into the underworld awaiting reincarnation, where they interact with characters illustrating a selection of defining moments in a person’s life. Five main acts are defined by the different flavor profiles of an accompanying drink. Each drink brings up a certain memory that the drinker will recall and subsequently forget on their path to being reborn.

  • Canton Waterfront

    Excerpt from Canton Waterfront, a script that I wrote in 2025 exploring the ongoing trade war and the historical ties between Baltimore and China that have contributed towards the opium wars and the current fentanyl crisis. This was a commission from Baltimore Center Stage, when I was in the inagural cohort of their Lab410 New Play Development Residency. This play is a semifinalist for the 2026 O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, and a nominee for the 2026 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. 

  • STAR 1100.1

    Excerpt from STAR 1100.1, an audio drama that I wrote in 2024. This was a commission from Feminist Fairytales in response to their prompt to combine a well known fairytale with a lesser known one. I combined Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie with The Shadow by Hans Christian Andersen. Full episode now streaming from Feminist Fairytales on all podcast platforms.

  • alight, sweehearted

    Excerpt from alight, sweethearted. My immersive theatre adaptation of Hansel and Gretel, highlighting how the characters mistreat each other through food and incorporating the food from the original fairytale into the performance.

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About Karen

Baltimore City  

Karen Li (she/her) is an actor, playwright, and movement consultant working to normalize immigrant joy onstage. She has a double degree in Theatre and Dance from University of California, San Diego, and her writing has been supported by Baltimore Center Stage, Sisters Freehold, Playwrights Project, and Consume & Company, among others. She is a collective member of Submersive Productions, and has appeared as an actor Off-Broadway and regionally in DC, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania… more

View Karen's Resume
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Twelfth Night

Olivia in TheatreSquared's production of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, a collaboration with NAATCO in modern verse translation with support from the Play On Shakespeare program.

  • Twelfth Night
    Twelfth Night
  • Twelfth Night 2
    Twelfth Night 2
  • Twelfth Night 3
    Twelfth Night 3
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    • Babel

    Renee in Contemporary American Theatre Festival's production of Babel by Jacqueline Goldfinger. The second stop in this play's rolling world premiere supported by the National New Play Network.

    • Babel
      Babel
    • Babel 2
      Babel 2
    • Babel 3
      Babel 3
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    • The Great Leap

    Connie in The Great Leap by Lauren Yee at Perseverance Theatre

    • The Great Leap
      The Great Leap
    • The Great Leap 2
      The Great Leap 2
    • The Great Leap 3
      The Great Leap 3
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    • alight, sweethearted

    Production stills from alight, sweethearted, which I wrote and directed. An immersive theatre interterpretation of Hansel and Gretel, highlighting how the characters mistreat each other through food and incorporating the food from the original fairytale into the performance. Produced by Strand Theater Company, pastries by Zeke's Coffee.

    • alight, sweethearted
      alight, sweethearted
    • alight, sweethearted 2
      alight, sweethearted 2
    • alight, sweethearted 3
      alight, sweethearted 3
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    • From East, Like the Sun

    Production stills from Rapid Lemon Productions' run of my play From East, Like the Sun. I wrote this script under commission from Sisters Freehold while I was in their '23-'24 cohort of the Horticulture Playwrights Workshop.  This play follows two best friends and their families (and one 19th century ghost) searching for the mother lode - whether it’s gold, a sense of security, or happiness in their chosen home.

    • From East, Like the Sun
      From East, Like the Sun
    • From East, Like the Sun 2
      From East, Like the Sun 2
    • From East, Like the Sun 3
      From East, Like the Sun 3
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