2021/22 season welcome from artistic director Lily Tung Crystal
Dear community,
This season we’re reflecting on all the turns, reinventions, and reckonings we’ve made at Theater Mu.
Our 2021/22 season titled Seeing Ourselves takes its inspiration from the late photographer Corky Lee who documented Asian American history so that future generations could look back and reflect on who we are and where we’ve come from.
Through its 29-year history, Theater Mu has offered the Asian American community a platform to see themselves. A playwright walks into rehearsal and says it’s the first time they see themselves reflected in the artists around them. An audience member watches a show and says it’s the first time they see themselves reflected on stage. An actor enters a workshop and says it’s the first time they see themselves as part of an Asian American family.
During these challenging days for our community, we feel the urgency of “seeing ourselves” now more than ever. Hate manifests in the world when people do not hear our stories. When those around us do not see us on stage, film, or television, they often perceive us as other. We at Mu know that the more we uplift our stories, the more we are part of the narrative of America.
Within that storytelling comes great responsibility. The key to universality is through specificity. The characters we champion must be full, real, and complicated, and only then can we inspire true empathy and understanding. From anger to joy to disillusionment, from tragedy to love to hope, our next season embodies the fullness of human experience through Asian American storytelling.
October is the month of ghosts and spirits, and we begin our season as four Twin Cities writers respond to our community’s feelings of anger and frustration in You Shall Hear Me: Stories from Beyond, supernatural stories of retribution.
Then we celebrate our shared Asian American experience with our second annual TwentyPho Hour PlayFest, where more than 35 artists from around the country joyfully create a full day of art together.
As we reflect on all we’ve lost and gained in the past two years, Theater Mu then circles back to two of our beloved projects, in hopes we can share them with you in-person.
Man of God by Anna Ouyang Moench dives into the rage and revenge of a #metoo moment, while Lauren Yee’s part-play, part-rock concert, Cambodian Rock Band, infuses tragedy with joy, while celebrating the resilience of the human spirit.
Hope and resilience have defined Theater Mu for nearly three decades. And indeed next summer, we’ll have the opportunity to celebrate our 30th anniversary. We feel incredibly fortunate to be able to reflect on the history we’ve all shared—building community, nurturing artists, and telling Asian American stories together.
Lily Tung Crystal
Artistic Director
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