"Fast Company" by Theater Mu at the Guthrie Theater

Theater Mu's latest play is a fun crime caper about a Chinese-American family of con artists. Mu was part of the rolling world premiere of NYC-based playwright Carla Ching's smart, funny, two-person relationship play Two Kids that Blow Shit Up a few years ago, and are now bringing us this smart, funny, family crime dramedy Fast Company. There's nothing particularly deep or revelatory about it, but it's fun in an Ocean's Eleven heist kind of way, and it's rare and wonderful to see an Asian-American family at the center of this type of story, portrayed as flawed, messy, loving, complicated humans instead of stereotypes.

"Purple Cloud" by Mu Performing Arts at Mixed Blood Theatre

In celebration of 50 years of Asian American theater, Mu Performing Arts is presenting their 49th (if memory serves) world premiere play about the Asian American experience. That's an incredible commitment to new work, and to giving voice to stories that might not otherwise be heard. And while Purple Cloud is a specifically Asian American story, it's true what they say that the more specific a story is, the more universal it is. This "hapa" (meaning mixed) girl's search for identity, family, and a place in the world is something everyone can relate to in some way, and told in an innovative, imaginative, fantastical yet grounded way by playwright Jessica Huang.