A SCENE FROM peerless by Jiehae Park

To culminate my time at the Stratford Festival's Michael Langham Director Workshop, I directed a 20 minute excerpt of peerless by Jiehae Park.

peerless is about Asian scarcity mindset. It's about what racialized folks do when there's only room for one of us - at prom, in the audition room, you name it. It's also Macbeth.

I attacked peerless with a Blade Runner and cyberpunk aesthetic, sending us deep into M's tortured mind as she commits to murdering this hapless loser who seems to be the only person in the world who validates her at all. Violence was staged in blinding white light, sending us into a surreal hate box of lateral conflict.

I love this play and really hope someone does it in Canada at the scale it deserves.

a scene from

peerless by Jiehae park

Produced as a part of the Director's Workshop Project as a part of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival's Michael Langham Program

November 22 2025

Directed by Aaron Jan

Set and Costume Design by Paige Prystupa
Lighting Design by Sruthi Suresan
Sound Design by Alixandra Cowman

Stage Managed by Suzanne McArthur
Assistant Stage Managed by Lily Cardiff

Fight Choreography by Anita Nittoly
Associate Fight Choreography by David Chinchilla

With: Marissa Orjalo, Christina Orjalo and Nick Dolan

Photos by Ann Baggley