HMONG FUTURES

HMONG FUTURES season art in the shape of a spirit lock — HMONG FUTURES

by KATIE KA VANG
directed by **LILY TUNG CRYSTAL**
Apr 9 - May 3, 2026
Gremlin Theatre

season art by Aleksandra Gurneau/KNOCK, inc.; far Left & top right courtesy of Cameron Yang, Hmong American Farmers Assoc., respectively

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS AND 50 MORE

This theater project commemorates 50 years of Hmong communities in the Twin Cities and dreams about what it looks like for these communities to thrive in the next 50. Playwright Katie Ka Vang created this with the Hmong community, including interviews, story circles, workshop readings, family-style dinners, and facilitated conversations.

“As a first-generation Hmong American, my worldview was largely shaped by my refugee parents' lived experiences related to political persecution, traumatic experiences, displacement, and poverty, and I hope my work is a vessel for myself and my community to co-create ideas that point toward liberation and transformation,” says playwright Katie Ka Vang.

GENERAL INFORMATION

DATES

Apr 11 - May 3, 2026 (previews Apr 9 & 10)

Masks will be required at all Sunday matinees, and large print playbills and sensory kits will be available at each performance. Performances with talkbacks, open captions, audio description, and ASL interpretations will be announced later.

PRICE

We strive to voice the stories of the Asian American community, and in order to bring performances to those communities whose stories they tell, we are committed to making them as accessible as possible. PAY AS YOU ARE pricing asks those who routinely pay market value for theater tickets to choose to pay that amount; it is the actual fair market value of the ticket. If an audience member needs to pay less, they can choose to pay less—as little as $10 per ticket.

Seating is general admission.

VENUE INFO

Hmong Features will take place will take place at Gremlin Theatre, located at Annex Building, 550 Vandalia St, St Paul, MN 55114. For directions or parking information, visit Gremlin Theatre’s website.

MEET THE PLAYWRIGHT

Katie Ka Vang, the playwright of HMONG FUTURES

KATIE KA VANG (she/they) is a Hmong American playwright and storyteller. Her work explores the complexity of cultures & communities, diaspora, dis-ease, and transformation. Her work includes Six Pack, Again the musical, Fertile Grounds, WTF, and Hmong Bollywood. Her work has been developed and presented at East West Players, Mixed Blood Theatre, Red Eye Theater, Pangea World Theater, Pillsbury House Theatre, Theater Mu, the Jungle Theater, Leviathan Lab, Bushwick Starr, Brown University, the Royal Court Theatre, the Walker Art Center, Civic Ensemble, Out North Art House, and more. She has received accolades and support from the Center for Cultural Power working with Indigenous Roots, the McKnight Foundation, the Playwrights' Center, the Jerome Foundation, NET, Knight Foundation, NPN, MRAC, MSAB, Coalition of Asian American Leaders, and others. Katie was also a member of East West Players 21-23 Playwright's Group. MFA in playwriting: Brown University. | katiekavang.com

MEET THE DIRECTOR

LILY TUNG CRYSTAL (she/her) is an actor/singer, director, and artistic director of East West Players in Los Angeles. She is thrilled to be making her Mu mainstage acting debut after recently serving as its artistic director. Favorite acting credits include: Mrs. Shin/God (Good Person of Szechwan, Cal Shakes), Mother (Interstate, Mixed Blood), Judge Zerbe/Chin (The Courtroom, Jungle Theater), Prosecutor Li (Chinglish, Portland Center Stage/Syracuse Stage), Amanda (Private Lives, Whirligig Theatre), Lulu (Cabaret, SF Playhouse), Mrs. Park (Jay Kuo’s Homeland, Magic Theatre; New World Stages), and Korean #2 (Songs of the Dragons, Crowded Fire; BATCC nomination). Lily has directed at Mu, Park Square, Jungle Theater, and History Theatre, most recently the world premiere of R.A. Shiomi’s Secret Warriors. She is a three-time TBA Award finalist for outstanding direction. | lilytungcrystal.com