"The Tiger Among Us" by Mu Performing Arts at Mixed Blood Theatre

Sometimes when you go to the theater, a play is just a play. At other times, a play is so much more than just a play, it's a meaningful exploration of ideas or experiences, in which artists speak their truth. Mu Performing Arts' world premiere production of the new play The Tiger Among Us is such a case. Playwright Lauren Yee brings to life one of Minnesota's largest minority cultures, Hmong, through the story of one family. We're introduced to the family through the oldest son, Pao, who sits at the front of the stage and talks directly to the audience. He tells us that Hmong people "have big families and eat a lot." Sounds like just about every culture I've ever heard of!

Family patriarch Thao (Saikong Yang) immigrated to the US from Laos with his wife, eventually ending up in the small central Minnesota town of Perham. Mother May (Sheng Kong, seen in flashbacks and hallucinations) has been gone for years, and Thao is raising his two children by himself on a janitor's salary. Pao (Maxwell Chonk Thao) dropped out of high school to help support the family with a job at the local Panera bread (artistic licence, I'm pretty sure Perham doesn't have a Panera). Lia (Gaosong Vang Heu) is a senior in high school and the star of the volleyball team, being courted by college scouts. She's a typical American teenager, with no more worries than the next big game, until a school project requires her to ask her father about his immigration experience. Thao is out of town on a hunting trip, so Lia does some investigating on her own. As secrets come out, the world she knows slowly begins to fall apart. Meanwhile, Pao is making plans to move to St. Paul where they'll be surrounded by other Hmong people instead of isolated in this small rural community, where they daily face subtle racism (perhaps the worst kind). Thao wants to leave his past behind him and just live his quiet simple life, but he's forced to face his demons. It's a bit of a tragic ending, but yet with hope that the new generation can continue their parents' dream of making a new life for the family.

Maxwell Chonk Thao, Sheng Kong, Saikong Yang,
and Gaosong Vang Heu as the Xiong family

The strong cast includes four Hmong-American actors (who also shared their experiences in the post-show discussion), as well as Claire Bancroft as Lia's cheerful friend and Garry Gieken as several characters, ranging from the friendly neighbor to much more threatening forces. Maxwell is a very appealing actor (see also Into the Woods), and Gaosong is a fresh-faced and exuberant young actor; together they create a believable supportive and bickering sibling relationship. Also good are Saikong as the father struggling to raise his family, and Sheng as a haunting vision in her family's life.

Playing now through February 10, The Tiger Among Us is an interesting, entertaining, and thought-provoking look at the immigrant experience in a typical American family.

"WTF" by Mu Performing Arts at Mixed Blood Theatre

I was introduced to Mu Performing Arts a few years ago by a friend of mine who's on their board.  Over the last ten years or so Mu has grown to become one of the top Asian American theater companies in the country.  I've attended several of their shows, ranging from Tony-winner David Henry Hwang's semi-autobiographical play Yellow Face to the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Flower Drum Song.  So when my friend said she had an extra ticket to their current production WTF at the Mixed Blood Theatre, I was in!

I'm not quite sure how to describe this play, so I'll let playwright Katie Ka Vang do it for me: "WTF is the story of the lives of young Hmong Americans living in today's society.  The characters in this piece all try to build a life for themselves.  Specifically, it follows the story of True and Sunday.  I wanted to magnify these two characters, who seem as through they just slide through life and simply just survive.  They do, but the way they choose to survive is more than just surviving."  That's an interesting way to put it, because at first True and Sunday are passive characters.  Sunday (Saikong Yang) is dealing with an over-achieving sister, opium addict parents, and an apprenticeship with a crazy artist.  True (the talented Sun Mee Chomet, who has appeared at the Guthrie in Macbeth, Intelligent Homosexual, and Two Gents) has recently lost her mother and has a strained and complicated relationship with her father (and his two other wives).  It's only when she gets pregnant that she begins to make choices to get her life back on track, as does her old friend Sunday, who agrees to make a life with her and her baby.

As much as this play is about the Hmong community, it's also a universal story of people dealing with the hardships of life.  Drug addiction, unexpected pregnancy, loss of a parent, a family member in Iraq, trying to find your place in the world, these are things everyone can relate to.  WTF also uses music, dance, and film to tell its story.  A text message is projected onto a screen onstage between scenes, which sets the stage for the upcoming scene (even if its meaning isn't always entirely clear).  True's boyfriend (Fres Thao) is a rapper/singer, and her soldier brother Rush (Billy Xiong) breakdances, as does the adorable 16-year-old Mimo Xiong. 

We left the play not knowing quite what to make of it.  But director Randy Reyes says, "This play is not about finding answers, but rather about asking the right questions."  So I guess that's OK.

Mu's next production is the musical Little Shop of Horrors, which is on my list of shows to see in 2011.  I can't think of anyone better to play Seymour than Randy Reyes, and I can't wait to see what Mu does with this sweet and funny little musical.