AAPI PLAYWRIGHTS GRAPPLE WITH THE MEANING OF FREEDOM AT MU’S PLAY-READING FESTIVAL

Mu selected five plays from a national call for submissions to join scripts by Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay and Katie Ka Vang.

Theater Mu’s longstanding New Eyes play-reading festival is an incubator for new Asian American voices, and its 2026 line-up featured nationally selected, 10-minute plays that ponder, “What does freedom mean to you?”

The free festival was held January 23-25 at the Playwrights’ Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, and consisted of scripts or play excerpts by Kyle Camay, Rammel Chan, Nicholas Pilapil, Mellon Foundation playwright-in-residence Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay, Dexieng Yang, and Brandon Zang. The festival included an in-progress reading of Katie Ka Vang’s play Hmong Futures, which will receive its world premiere at Theater Mu in spring 2026.

“In a climate of censorship and prescriptivism, we wanted to ask our artistic community what comes to mind when they reflect on this notion of freedom,” says Jane Peña, Mu’s literary manager and the New Eyes script coordinator. “The responses from the playwrights have been inspiring, especially in how varied they are. To some, freedom means taking a stand against the powers that be. To others, it might look like forging new connections and identities, or strengthening old ones on your own terms. It also might simply be the freedom to laugh with your friends. New Eyes Festival is a place for these different interpretations to really shine.”

Since opening up the New Eyes line-up to a national call for submissions in 2024, Mu has emphasized the festival’s equitable platform for Asian American artists who live throughout the country and who are at all points in their careers.

As this year’s line-up emphasized, Asian American talent abounds in Minnesota. Local artists Kyle Camay and Dexieng Yang have worked with Mu as actors and singers and are now connecting with Mu as playwrights for the first time after submitting their scripts alongside 47 other playwrights. Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay and Katie Ka Vang (whose scripts were pre-selected) are nationally recognized pillars of the Southeast Asian playwright community, and their many accolades include a Jerome Foundation playwriting fellowship and Joyce Award, respectively.

“It wasn’t an easy task to make our final selections. The submissions were all very strong, running the gamut from established to more neophyte writers,” Mu artistic director Fran de Leon says. “It reaffirms my long-standing belief in the wealth of talented AAPI writers who are out there and just need a forum where they can shine. I’m excited that Mu is that forum for them.”

Theater Mu’s New Eyes Festival began in 1992 as an incubator for new Asian American ideas and works. Past festivals included scripts by R.A. Shiomi, Lloyd Suh, Leah Nanako Winkler, May Lee-Yang, Isabella Dawis and Tidtaya Sinotuke, Edward Bok Lee, and dozens more. The last time the festival featured 10-minute plays around a theme was 2021’s virtual festival, (Un)scene, which responded to the rising violence against Asian and Asian American communities during the pandemic.

THEATER MU is the largest Asian American theater company in the Midwest and has received national attention for its artistic excellence and community engagement. Founded in 1992, Mu sits at the intersection of arts, equity, and justice, and it tells stories from the heart of the Asian American experience. Theater Mu’s continuing goal to celebrate and empower the Asian American community through theater is achieved through mainstage productions, emerging artist support, and educational outreach programs. Theater Mu is a member of the Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists as well as a member of the Twin Cities Theatres of Color Coalition, proudly standing alongside New Native Theatre, Pangea World Theater, Penumbra, Teatro Del Pueblo, New Arab American Theater, and Ikidowin. | theatermu.org

Image courtesy Theater Mu.