To mark Asian Pacific American Heritage Month this May, Theater Mu announced NEW EYES FESTIVAL: UN(SCENE) as part of the current 2020-2021 season.
Theater Mu s longest-running tradition, the New Eyes Festival, has become a much-anticipated annual series of staged readings of new works from Asian American Playwrights. The festival acts as an artistic incubator for thoughts and ideas looking to be born onto the stage.
This year, as a response to the rising violence against Asian and Asian American communities, the New Eyes Festival will consist of a series of original ten-minute virtual plays written by local and nationally recognized playwrights with ties to Theater Mu and the Twin Cities. The idea to pivot this year s festival was brought to the Mu staff by Board Member Katie Hae Leo, who also serves as the festival s producer:
Theater Mu tackles the pandemic and anti-Asian hate
As part of AAPI Heritage Month, Theater Mu s New Eyes Festival will feature short plays in response to the rise of anti-Asian violence. Author: Heidi Wigdahl Updated: 6:23 PM CDT April 29, 2021
ST PAUL, Minn. When Lily Tung Crystal came on as artistic director for Theater Mu the second largest Asian American theater company in the nation she had no idea the challenges that would come with it. The pandemic occurred when I was six months into my stint at Theater Mu, Tung Crystal recalled. I always say that sure it s been challenging and there s been many crises along the way but there s nowhere I d rather be.
Aww, thank you so much. I loved working on
TAKARAZUKA!!! I was amazed at the scale of the production and how hard the EWP team worked to bring the show to life. The costumes, choreography, dancing. To even attempt to recreate the massive spectacle of Takarazuka, you need a lot of design.
Where are you spending these past pandemic months: New York, London or Aiea, Hawaii?
At the top of the pandemic, I was in the U.K. Mostly I ve been in New York, but I was able to go home to see my family in Hawai i, which meant the world to me.