Emma Lai. Photo: Shane Morgan
Emma Lai shares how she formed a connection with the theater.
For some people, discovering a passion and living a life surrounding it comes naturally. Perhaps, they identified that passion early on, developing a fast connection to it.
For others, it isn’t that easy. They make lists, journal or read books, helping to uncover true passion and how to pursue it. The connection isn’t always realized or discovered.
Emma Lai found herself somewhere in between. Lai once had her sights set on a career in chemical engineering. Prepared to have an adult life surrounded by math and science, she graduated from Woodbury High School (WHS) in 2017 bound for the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities. Not long after arriving, however, she realized her passion was in theater—developing and design, in particular.
“I didn’t necessarily grow up around theater,” Lai says. “My parents really like musicals and would bring me to [Children’s Theatre Company] growing up, but it was just vaguely part of my life.”
Now, it’s her entire life. As one of the founders of Picnic Basket Theatre, a Minneapolis-based theater company that prioritizes developing new work, supporting early-career artists and making theater more accessible to marginalized communities, Lai says she was given a lot of opportunities and wants to do the same for others.
During her time at WHS, Lai recalls playing violin in the pit orchestra as one of the early connections to a theater passion.
“You’re in this deep, dark pit mouthing the words to a musical while enjoying what is happening on stage and enjoying the audience’s reactions,” she says, vividly recalling the memory. “Every angle offers a different perspective of the production. I really enjoyed being part of that.”
Once at college, Lai found herself surrounded by people who had grown up around theater. She says as freshmen, however, they couldn’t audition for any productions at the university. So, they took matters into their own hands, and she joined them.
Emma Lai discovered her true passion for theater during her time in college—seen here is the Next to Normal full cast, including Lai, and the team in 2019. Photo: Emma Lai
“We created a student theater company,” she says. The theater company, Firefly Musical Productions, focused on musical theater, and students found all the props and costumes themselves. They held their own auditions and started to get a taste for every part of what it takes to put on a show.
Lai, a self-proclaimed shy person, gravitated toward directing. “We did our first show—Spring Awakening—and it was a very intense musical,” she says. “The process was really fulfilling. Creating something with other people and trying different things and different approaches to interpret that musical was a really enjoyable experience.”
Soon after, Lai declared theater as her major and dropped chemical engineering. “My parents were super supportive but warned me I would have to work really hard,” she says. “They believed in me.”
With a new focus, Lai says she had some catching up to do. Because theater hadn’t been as much a part of her life as it had her peers, she spent the summer before her sophomore year of college researching the art and reading Shakespeare.
“I felt so much imposter syndrome because I haven’t loved this thing my whole life,” Lai says of theater. “I quite possibly over compensated in many ways but knew I needed some foundation and had to catch up to people who had fundamental understanding from doing these things in high school.”
Still working with the student theater company, Lai directed and produced most—if not all—of the shows. She says her confidence grew and felt immense pride for a show she directed and produced during her junior year.
Ready to take on the world and her senior year, Lai was excited about her future in theater.
Then, COVID-19 hit.
“Everything changed,” she says. “My time at university was cut short, and we couldn’t do live shows. We were just getting ready to debut a musical, and everything paused.”
While frustrated with the unprecedented situation, Lai says she was fortunate that her directing and playwriting classes easily transferred to Zoom. While she missed the camaraderie of the theater community, she was able to continue her studies.
Introducing Picnic Basket Theatre
When Lai begins discussing the foundation of Picnic Basket Theatre, she credits mentors who had paved the way to her growing success. Joe Chvala, who runs Flying Foot Forum, a theater company in the Twin Cities, gave Lai opportunities for which she’s noticeably grateful.
“He became my first directing mentor and has continued to support my work,” she says. “He really opened the door for me in getting to understand the profession outside of college. He helped me get a directing internship at Children’s Theatre Company.”
As Lai prepared for college graduation during the pandemic, it was time to consider her next step. She collaborated with Rachel Brees, Julianne Escanan and John Patterson to develop Picnic Basket Theatre, a company that supports early-career playwrights by offering workshops and taking open submissions.
“The three of us really wanted to put together a theater company that focused on contemporary, new work,” Lai says. “We wanted to give emerging artists a voice.”
As a sound designer, Brees had an interest in audio drama, and people who came to Brees’ apartment to rehearse audio were tested daily for COVID. The trio also took time to do Zoom workshops with new writers who hadn’t gotten a chance to have their work read out loud.
From left to right, Kaaha Kaahiya, Julianne Escanan and Rachel Brees recording for Picnic Basket Theatre in 2022. Photos: Shane Morgan
“We’d spend several hours a night reading the play and then talking about it,” Lai says. “The playwright would do some rewriting, and we’d come back together virtually to read the new version. That kind of new work development became something we really enjoyed.”
Lai says rather than having live performances, Picnic Basket continues to operate as a development theater.
“We really want to help artists like ourselves, who are just getting out of college, have a point to continue growing their careers,” she says. “It’s important we make theater and the experience of theater more accessible to people.”
Lai says while she’s always considered herself someone who works hard, she’s been lucky in her career and is grateful for the people and mentors who continue to push her out of her comfort zone into her next project. “I’ve been extremely fortunate and plan to continue working hard,” she says.
Two of Picnic Basket Theatre’s co-founders, Emma Lai and Rachel Brees, recording Somewhere Over the Pacific in 2021.
With a desire to grow her career and develop her skills as a director and playwright, Lai moved to New York City earlier this fall.
“I’ll be back to Minnesota to work on stuff and have some exciting stuff coming up next spring,” she says. “I’m extremely grateful I’m able to do something I love and have such a strong passion for … I encourage everyone to follow their dreams.”
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