HOME / 2024-25 SEASON / NEW EYES FESTIVAL

Art by aleksandra Gurneau / KNOCK, inc.

MU’S LONGEST RUNNING TRADITION

The first iteration of Theater Mu’s play-reading festival, New Eyes, was in 1993. Since then, it has become Mu’s longest running tradition, a showcase of new Asian American work, and an artistic incubator for thoughts and ideas. Historically, scripts have been selected for New Eyes Festival by an internal committee of artistic staff. However, this year, Mu opened it up for submissions to level the playing field, increase the number of opportunities for plays we may not know, and connect with playwrights whose work we have not previously been able to engage with.

The selected plays will receive a staged reading, which is a form of theater without sets or full costumes, and actors read from scripts and incorporate minimal stage movement. Past works at New Eyes include Madhuri Shekhar’s House of Joy, Isabella Dawis and Tidtaya Sinutoke’s Half the Sky, Leah Nanako Winkler’s Two Mile Hollow, Keiko Green’s Exotic Deadly, or the MSG Play, Katie Ka Vang and Melissa Li’s Again, Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay’s The Kung Fu Zombies Saga, and Lloyd Suh’s Charles Francis Chan Jr.’s Exotic Oriental Murder Mystery.

GENERAL INFORMATION

DATES

Nov 22-24, 2024, at the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis. Full schedule to come.

PRICE

This event is free and open to the public. Seating is limited, so we may create an RSVP form when we are closer to the event.

VENUE INFO

Playwrights’ Center is located at 2301 E Franklin Ave., Minneapolis. There is a small parking lot (with one accessible parking space) and free street parking. An elevator inside the entrance takes you up to the theater auditorium on the second floor. The center is reachable by light rail and bus; learn more about the building’s accessibility.

MEET THE SCRIPT COORDINATOR

JANE PEÑA (she/her) has used her background in dramaturgy, arts administration, and most recently her graduate degree in library science to serve as Theater Mu’s office and literary manager since 2020. As a dramaturg, reader, script supervisor, and artistic apprentice, Jane has experience with: Theater Mu, Yale Cabaret, the Playwrights’ Center, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Goodman Theatre, the Playwrights’ Realm, and others.

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