HOME / 2025-26 SEASON / HMONG FUTURES

portrait by jacob her; graphic design by AJ Rafael & Reena Dutt

AN INTERGENERATIONAL STORY OF HEALING

HMong Futures: The Future of Us is an intergenerational story asking what it takes for a family to move from surviving to thriving. Anchoring the play are three HMong American women, and it examines the conversations, daily rituals, and little moments that help us heal. To help create the story, playwright Katie Ka Vang held community engagement events and discussions in 2025, during the 50th anniversary of Southeast Asian people in Minnesota.

HMong Futures: The Future of Us contains adult language and situations, and references to physical violence. View a PDF of the playbill. 

Volunteer as an usher and see the show for free!

GENERAL INFORMATION

DATES

Apr 11 - May 3, 2026 (previews Apr 9 & 10)

Accessible seating, large-print playbills, and sensory kits are available at each performance.

• Pre-show letterpress event: Apr 19 (learn more)

• Diego Symouksavanh as Aben: Apr 29

• Talkbacks: Apr 12, 16, 23, and 30

• Open captions: Apr 18 and May 2 at 7:30 pm

• Mask requirements: Every Sunday

• ASL interpretation: May 2 at 7:30 pm

• Audio description: Apr 26 at 2 pm

• Nature’s Holistic Healing pre-show table ft. herbs and produce: through May 3

• tsev, home, an interactive lobby art installation by Dej Txiaj Ntsim Yaj: through May 3

If you are interested in a performance that is sold out or does not have enough tickets for your party, we offer walk-up tickets. Up to an hour before showtime, you can put yourself on a waitlist at the box office. If tickets become open during general check-in or remain unclaimed by the time the show is about to start, we will admit you to the theater on a first come, first served basis.

PRICE

We strive to voice the stories of the Asian American community, and in order to bring performances to those communities whose stories they tell, we are committed to making them as accessible as possible. PAY AS YOU ARE pricing asks those who routinely pay market value for theater tickets to choose to pay that amount; it is the actual fair market value of the ticket. If an audience member needs to pay less, they can choose to pay less—as little as $15 per ticket.

Seating is general admission.

VENUE INFO

HMong Futures will take place will take place at Gremlin Theatre, located at Annex Building, 550 Vandalia St, St Paul, MN 55114. For directions or parking information, visit Gremlin Theatre’s website.

“The real thrill of the production, and where Katie Ka Vang truly excels, is in the voice of the characters. Their exchanges, their frustrations, all ring true.” —The Stages of MN

“Theater Mu’s HMong Futures: The Futures of Us at Gremlin Theatre is one of those shows that doesn’t try to “wow” you with big theatrical tricks—it’s quieter than that—but it ends up hitting harder because of it.” —BroadwayWorld

Check out stories by City Cast (20:00), MPR, Fox 9, WCCO, Sahan Journal, Pioneer Press, Hmong Times (preview, Q&A), BroadwayWorld, Minnesota Playlist, and Minnesota Monthly.

photos by Rich Ryan

Meet the Cast

Understudy: Diego Symouksavanh (Aben)

MEET THE PLAYWRIGHT

KATIE KA VANG (she/her) is a HMong American playwright, screenwriter, and storyteller. Her work explores the complexity of cultures & communities, diaspora, dis-ease, and transformation. Her work includes Six Pack, Again the musical, Fertile Grounds, WTF, and Hmong Bollywood. Her work has been developed and presented at East West Players, Mixed Blood Theatre, Wonderlust Productions, Red Eye Theater, Pangea World Theater, Pillsbury House Theatre, Theater Mu, the Jungle Theater, Leviathan Lab, Bushwick Starr, Brown University, the Royal Court Theatre, the Walker Art Center, Civic Ensemble, Out North Art House, and more. She has received fellowships from the Center for Cultural Power, the McKnight Foundation, the Playwrights' Center, the Jerome Foundation, NET, Knight Foundation, NPN, MRAC, MSAB, Coalition of Asian American Leaders, and others. Katie was also a member of East West Players 21-23 Playwright's Group. MFA in playwriting: Brown University. | katiekavang.com

Meet the Director

REENA DUTT (she/her) is dedicated to new and reimagined texts that catapult polarizing conversations through unexpected stories of the underheard. Reena recently directed the development reading of Geetha Reddy’s new play, The Employee Dharma Handbook at Theatreworks Silicon Valley. She has worked on productions and new play development across the country at theatres including Artists Repertory (OR), Amphibian Stage (TX), Constellation Stage (IN), WAM/Central Square (MA), and the Public (NY). Her Broadway debut was The Collaboration, starring Paul Bettany and Jeremy Pope, working as assistant director to Kwame Kwei-Armah. Theatre fellowships: LA Performance Practice, Drama League NY directing fellow, LCT Directors Lab. | reenadutt.com

MEET THE COMPANY

wardrobe RANE OGANOWSKI; scenic charge EMERSON STENBECK; carpenters ERIN CAROLL GUSTAFSON, BRYAN KELLY, WILL RAFFERTY, AARON SWEDBURG

Special thanks to the Jerome Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, and Minnesota Historical Society for supporting Hmong Futures: The Future of Us.

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