THEATER MU PRODUCES THE WORLD PREMIERE OF FIFTY BOXES OF EARTH
By Lianna McLernon
Ankita Raturi’s play (March 1-16) weaves in choreography by Ananya Chatterjea and puppet designs by Oanh Vu and Andrew Young.
Theater Mu is producing the world premiere of Ankita Raturi’s Fifty Boxes of Earth at Park Square Theatre from Mar 1-16 (previews Feb 27 & 28). Conceived as a creative response to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the play follows the multidisciplinary tradition of South Asian performing arts by weaving in choreography by Ananya Chatterjea and puppet design by Oanh Vu and Andrew Young. Directing the production is kt shorb, who also served as its dramaturg during this past November’s developmental workshop and reading in partnership with the Playwrights’ Center.
“The play is inspired by a passage from Chapter 18 of Dracula in which professor Van Helsing explains exactly what a vampire is and how to destroy one,” Raturi says. “Reading that passage a few years ago, I felt like I was reading a xenophobic stump speech. I wanted to create a text that spoke to this kind of conflict in any cultural context because it’s a well-worn history that repeats and repeats everywhere.”
In Raturi’s play, Q has just moved to the neighborhood, but instead of a bed, they brought fifty boxes of earth for the community garden. When Q starts cultivating fantastical, improbable plants, one man’s distrust grows even as his young daughter reaches out in friendship.
While the skeletal structure of Dracula is embedded into the script, Raturi has created a unique world and story that stands completely on its own. “The dance and the puppetry can take any form to bring the story into specific cultural contexts as well as ground us in this magical non-place that is everywhere and nowhere at once,” she adds.
After all, an immigrant wanting a better life for their family is a universal truth. Even at the New Eyes play reading in November, audience members naturally compared the history of the play’s world to their own experiences and other cultural histories.
Mu interim artistic director Katie Bradley says, “Fifty Boxes of Earth really speaks to how complicated an experience can be when an outsider immigrates into a new community, and how misunderstandings and distrust can erupt in a garden space that’s meant for new life and togetherness. After watching the New Eyes presentation, I was struck by how much each character is simply trying to survive in their own way and what impact this survival mode can have on their relationships with one another.”
Bringing the world premiere to life is Che’Li as Q; Alex Galick (Purple Cloud, Twelfth Night, A Little Night Music) as Jon Harker, the community garden manager; and Mina Moua as Mina Harker (The Song Poet in a collaboration led by Minnesota Opera); as well as a movement ensemble composed of Eliana Durnbaugh, Kiko Laureano, Mars Niemi, Alyssa Taiber (The Kung Fu Zombies Saga: Shaman Warrior & Cannibals), and Taylor West.
Fifty Boxes of Earth kicks off Theater Mu’s 2024/25 mainstage season, the Depths of Us, which focuses largely on South Asian and queer stories. The world premiere has received support from the Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation and the Minnesota Humanities Center.
TICKET INFORMATION
Pay As You Are (PAYA) pricing asks those who routinely pay $45 for theater tickets to pay that amount – it’s the market value – but if an audience member needs to pay less, they can choose to do so, as low as $10. Special performances throughout the show’s run will feature open captions, ASL interpretations, audio description, assisted listening devices, and mask requirements in order to increase accessibility. Tickets and more information are available at (651) 789-1012 or theatermu.org.
ABOUT ANKITA RATURI (PLAYWRIGHT)
Ankita (she/her) is a currently Queens-based writer and teaching artist who grew up in capital cities, pediatric gastroenterology offices, and the bisexual closet. She writes hyper-theatrical works in Hindi/Urdu, English, and sometimes Bahasa Indonesia about living between cultural identities and contending with the ongoing legacies of colonization. New play development: Playwrights’ Center, Theater Mu, New York Theatre Workshop, Roundabout, Ma-Yi Theater Company, South Coast Repertory, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Playwrights Realm, Berkshire Theatre Group, Cygnet Theatre, Artists at Play, the COOP, Atlantic Pacific Theatre, Theater Masters, Fresh Ground Pepper, Hypokrit Theatre Company, New York Shakespeare Exchange, Pete’s Candy Store, Natyabharati, Wesleyan University. 2024 LANPP Award winner, 2022 Ollie Award winner. BFA in drama: NYU/Tisch. MFA in playwriting: UC San Diego. Second-year Kathak student.
ABOUT KT SHORB (DIRECTOR)
kt (they/them) is a director, actor, and scholar. They are an assistant professor in the theater and dance department at Macalester College. Directorial credits include: Ottone in Villa, Lucretia, L’incoronazione di Poppea, She Kills Monsters, black girl love: an adaptation project, The Women of __, Carmen, 893 | Ya-ku-za, Scheherazade, and The Mikado: Reclaimed. They have writing published in the Journal of American Drama and Theatre, American Theatre, and Howlround. It is currently the vice president for the Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists, and through 2024, they were Theater Mu’s arts research with communities of color fellow, which is managed by the Social Science Research Council and funded by the Wallace Foundation.
ABOUT THEATER MU
Theater Mu (pronounced MOO) 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 tells stories from the heart of the Asian American experience, presenting a fusion of traditional and contemporary artistic influences, which range from classics to up-and-coming voices in our community. 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 Theatre, and Teatro Del Pueblo. | theatermu.org
Images courtesy Theater Mu/Rich Ryan.
