After celebrating its 30th anniversary last year with four brand new theater productions and a national Asian American theater conference, Theater Mu is back and stronger than ever, entering its upcoming season bolstered by both returning and new Theater Mu team members.
The 2023-2024 show lineup, featuring three world premieres and one Obie Award winner, highlights the many angles of Asian American identity, documenting the diaspora with unique stories that aim to answer the question of where (or what) home truly is.
Theater Mu playwright and Mellon grant recipient Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay, a creator of many of Mu’s productions, has also been approved for another three-year term as the Mellon Foundation playwright in residence. In this residence, she plans to continue shining a light on AAPI stories and their importance in theater, coincidentally destigmatizing them as well.
“Being awarded a second term is life changing and provides profound stability financially and artistically,” Vongsay says. “I’ll continue to focus on creating unapologetic stories that center refugee experiences. American theater will be more rich and compelling for it.”
The new Mu season beginsin January with an Obie Award-winning production of The Nosebleed, written and directed by Aya Ogawa, showcasing a string of vignettes centered around Ogawa and his struggles with forgiving his deceased father.
In February, Hell’s Canyon will offer viewers a classic “cabin in the woods” horror trope as resentments simmer between a surrogate mother, her ex, the couple she’s carrying for, and her brother.
As winter departs and spring approaches, A Name Jar, Theater Mu’s first family-friendly play of the season, is set to premiere in March. In the play, young protagonist Unhei moves to America and wonders if she should change her name to fit in more with her classmates.
Rounding out the 2023-2024 season is the highly anticipated musical Blended ? (Harmony): The Kim Loo Sisters, following the true story of the Chinese Polish American singing quartet in the ‘30s and ‘40s as they made their way from Minneapolis to Broadway, in a world that was actively against them at the time.
Season subscriptions are available now, and individual tickets are also for sale for all shows except Hells Canyon. For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit their website at theatermu.org.