Francesca and Isabella Dawis Play Twin Sisters in Theater Mu’s Production of ‘Peerless’
PEERLESS
by JIEHAE PARK
directed by LILY TUNG CRYSTAL
Theater Mu presents Jiehae Park’s peerless, a witty, lightning-quick, dark comedy about the cut-throat world of high school during college admissions. The production will be the Twin Cities directorial debut of Theater Mu’s new Artistic Director, Lily Tung Crystal. Long-time Mu artist, Katie Bradley, will assistant direct. Leading the cast are Francesca and Isabella Dawis, sisters born in Minneapolis who are happy to call Mu their artistic home.
SYNOPSIS
High school seniors and Asian American twins M and L will do whatever it takes to get into “The College.” When the affirmative action spot is given to D, a classmate who is 1/16th Native American, the sisters will stop at nothing to take back what they think is rightfully theirs.
Jiehae Park
peerless is a comedy... until it’s not.
— Jiehae Park
Lily Tung Crystal
In peerless, Jiehae Park takes the model minority myth and turns it on its head.
She introduces us to a pair of twins who on the surface seem to be stereotypical Asian American girls– good, overachieving students who don’t make waves. But as the play progresses, the audience is forced to question its initial assumptions. The girls are capable of great achievement, and also great destruction.
— Lily Tung Crystal
Isabella Dawis
Park’s overachieving and destructive characters are portrayed by real-life sisters Francesca and Isabella Dawis.
This is a dream come true. I can’t wait to get onstage with Francesca again. I’ve never laughed harder than when we’re working together.
— Isabella Dawis
Originally from Minneapolis, now based in New York, the Dawis sisters are no strangers to the Twin Cities theater community. Growing up, they gained the opportunity to grace the stages of the Guthrie, Children’s Theatre Company, Theater Latte Da, and of course Theater Mu. With Mu, Francesca starred in Walley Kid: The Musical and Heading East, while Isabella starred in Edith Can Shoot Things And Hit Them and Rick Shiomi’s revised version of The Mikado. She most recently debuted her original musical, Half the Sky, at Mu’s New Eyes Festival earlier this year.
After living in California and New York, we have an even greater appreciation for Mu and the Twin Cities theater community. Mu gave us our first opportunity to perform together as kids, so it feels like coming home.
— Francesca Dawis
Rick Shiomi
Theater Mu founder, Rick Shiomi, gives his praise:
We are blessed to have the Dawis sisters in the Twin Cities. Having worked with both, I can say they are both tremendous theater talents and perfect for peerless. They are indeed a peerless pair!
TICKET INFORMATION
General admission tickets are now on sale through the link above, by calling (651) 789-1012, or by emailing info@theatermu.org.
Theater Mu strives to voice the stories of the Asian American community, and in order to bring performances to those communities whose stories it tells, Mu is committed to making tickets as accessible as possible. PAY AS YOU ARE pricing asks those who routinely pay $35 for theater tickets to choose to pay that; it is the fair market value of the ticket. If an audience member needs to pay less, they can choose to do so - as little as $5.