Two playwright friends collaborate at Penumbra
May Lee-Yang and Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay have been friends for years, but the two recently decided to team up as playwrights for the first time, collaborating on a piece that explores their heritage and the connections that define them and their families.
Lee-Yang is Hmong-American and Vongsay is a Lao-American. Though both the Hmong and Lao came as refugees from Southeast Asia at the same time, fleeing the aftermath of the CIA's Secret War in Laos, the two groups do not often interact. The playwrights aim to capture that dynamic in their work. It will be performed at Penumbra Theatre at the end of October.
They joined MPR News' Doualy Xaykaothao to discuss the show.
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