Ashembaga Jaafaru & Sushma Saha. Photo by Samah Meghjee.

Thank you for seeing Maybe You Could Love Me by Samah Meghjee and directed by Katie Bradley. Click here for PDF version of the playbill, scroll down to read, or use our table of contents.

Noor Ashembaga Jaafaru*

Sajida Sushma Saha*

offstage voices Madhu Bangalore (Sajida’s dad), Katie Bradley* (Kausar, Hamza), Ninchai Nok-Chiclana (Noor’s mom)

Noor understudy Eponine Diatta

Sajida understudy Laila Sahir

LEAD CREATIVE & PRODUCTION

playwright Samah Meghjee

director & producer Katie Bradley

stage & production manager Jessica Goldade Swanson*

assistant stage manager Hannah Buss

scenic designer Mina Kinukawa^

co-properties designer Kenji Shoemaker & Sarah Harris

sound designer Katharine Horowitz

costume designer Sarah Bahr^

lighting designer Kathy Maxwell

cultural consultants Aamera Siddiqui & Filsan Said

assistant directors China Brickey & Siddeeqah Shabazz

dramaturg Laurie Flanigan Hegge

technical director Austin Stiers

intimacy director Alli St. John

head electrician Kurt Jung

lighting design fellow Lily K. Petit

front-of-house manager Kelsey Heathcote

box office manager Zoe Hermer-Cisek

COMPANY

run crew Sven Greseth

sound supervisor Richard Graham

electricians Sam Brown, Bevibel Harvey

carpenter Erin Carroll Gustafson

stitcher & wardrobe Marshall Kelly

scenic charge Emerson Stenbeck

scenic apprentice Keith Ridley

supertitles Alex Galick

ASL interpreters Jenae Farnham, Alyssa Hill

audio describer Laurie Pape Hadley

*Appearing through an agreement between Theater Mu and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

^Member of the United States Scenic Artists, Local USA 829, IATSE, a labor union and professional association of designers, artists, craftspeople, and department coordinators

SHOW INFORMATION

RUN TIME: 1 hour and 40 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission.

CONTENT WARNING: Maybe You Could Love Me contains: adult language and situations, swearing, references to sexual relationships, homophobia, onstage costume changes (actors will be wearing undergarments), and depicted intimacy.

NEED A MOMENT? If you need to exit the production at any point, you can access the lobby

to find a seat, get water, or relate your needs to the front-of-house staff.

ACCESSIBILITY: Sensory kits and large-print playbills are available at all performances, and the front of house can assist you if you need specific seats. Open captions will run during the evening shows Sept 20 & 27, ASL interpretation will accompany the Sept 14 matinee, and audio description will accompany the Sept 21 matinee. All Sunday performances will require audience members to be masked, preferably with KN95s or N95s.

SPECIAL THANKS

Daniel Berson, Isabella Dunsieth, Julian Johnson, Montana Johnson, Mehr Kaur, Salwa Meghjee, Shakirra Meghjee, Jane Peña, Kate Robbins, Pillsbury House + Theatre, Jeff Spot

LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The earth we are standing on, Mni Sota MaKoce, is the ancestral and contemporary homelands of the Dakota people whose creation story began at the confluence of the Wakpá Tháŋka and the Mnísota Wakpá, also known as the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. As Asian Americans, our history in this land has, at times, walked in solidarity with Native peoples. We have also benefited from their displacement. Because of this, in addition to a land acknowledgment, Theater Mu is working to honor the Indigenous community through these practices:

Starting in 2025, we provide free mainstage tickets for Native/Indigenous community members. Head to bit.ly/mu-ap if you’d like to partner with us.
We intentionally invite Native and Indigenous artists to join our training and mentorship opportunities to share knowledge, deepen relationships, and support Native theater artists.
We amplify Native arts and cultural events in our newsletters and social media.
We commit to continuing our education on the history of this land and our responsibilities to it.
We continuously examine further ways we can support, engage, and amplify the Native community.

We invite you to join us in reflecting on your own relationship to Indigenous sovereignty. Find resources and learn more about Mu’s living action plan by visiting our website.

Thank you to the Native Governance Center for their guidance in assembling these resources.

LETTER FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Welcome to Theater Mu’s world premiere of Maybe You Could Love Me.

Samah Meghjee’s play invites us into the evocatively messy and tender terrain of two Muslim American women whose bond stretches from childhood innocence to adulthood. Their story leaps across time—early growing pains, adult awakenings—revealing just how complicated and beautiful
connection can be.

When I first read the script, I was reminded of a passage from the great poet Rumi:

“What draws friends together does not conform to laws of nature. Form doesn’t know about spiritual closeness.”

Noor and Sajida’s relationship certainly does not follow form. And neither does this play, which tumbles between past and present, longing and laughter, intimacy and discomfort.

At its core, Maybe You Could Love Me puts female sexuality at center stage, with all its questions, intensity, and moments of both ache and joy. Desire and friendship collide here, sometimes deepening connection, sometimes cracking it wide open. Samah approaches these contradictions braided with the ever-present pull of cultural expectations and familial obligations.

The play’s journey—from early draft at our New Eyes Festival to tonight’s full production—was championed by Jane Peña, Mu’s office and literary manager, and Katie Bradley, who as interim artistic director helped shepherd the play forward with managing director Anh Thu T. Pham. Their work reflects Theater Mu’s commitment to supporting emerging playwrights and making space for stories that defy easy categories. At Mu, productions are about exploration of identity, of community, and of ideas too tricky, scandalous, or downright inconvenient for polite conversation. We wander boldly, occasionally stumble spectacularly, and always come out with a story worth telling.

And then there’s you. Theater is never complete until an audience breathes life into it. Your willingness to commune in the dark and lean into something a little raw, a little surprising, is what keeps Mu alive. This company belongs to all of us—artists, staff, and audiences alike. By being here tonight, you ensure that voices like Samah’s are not only heard, but celebrated and remembered.

Thank you for being part of this vibrant and always welcoming community. Enjoy the show.

Mabuhay!

FRAN DE LEON, artistic director

Q&A with the Playwright

Playwright Samah Meghjee and dramaturg Laurie Flanigan Hegge sat down to chat about Samah’s start in writing, what it was like seeing the script go from Mu’s New Eyes Festival to its world premiere, and more.

Laurie Flanigan Hegge: When did you discover you were a writer?

Samah Meghjee: I did competitive theater as a middle school thespian in Florida, and I was winning the competitions. I wanted to keep going as a high schooler in the hardest category, monologues.

I went to a Title I high school: It was super diverse and mostly students of color, but the high school drama program was led by a white woman, and even though the theater program was made up of many people of color, she only cast the white kids. ... I auditioned every single time, and the white lady kept casting the same white kids over and over. I never stepped on stage once, even though I was a performer, a good one, and I really wanted to perform. This was a revelation—racism is alive and well, and that’s why I’ll never get a part in a high school play.

I decided I’d just have to deal, and so my twin sister [Salwa] and I asked ourselves, “What can we do to get to the state competition?” ... You had to be No. 1 in the district in whatever category you entered, and our district was enormous. So we thought, “What is the least populated category?”, and that was playwriting. We said, “Okay, we’ll write plays,” and it never stopped.

We went to State twice, placed in our district in junior and senior year, and won first place, or “best in show,” our senior year. ... Now, I don’t perform. I enjoy performing, but I don’t want it to be my career. I love writing.

You’re not from the Twin Cities. What does it mean to be here and premiering your first play at Theater Mu?

I’m from Orlando. I’d been to Minnesota one time as a child for a cousin’s wedding, and I loved it. ... [Then when my play was selected for the 2024 New Eyes Festival], I came for the whole weekend and saw all the plays and explored Minnesota from top to bottom.

I live in Los Angeles now, and that’s cool, but I was really excited to be in such a great theater city, especially for playwrights. And I love trees—it was so beautiful to be here in the crisp fall with all the trees, it felt magical!

I have a huge affinity for the Twin Cities and for Theater Mu. Katie Bradley welcomed me with open arms and said, “Now you’re part of the Mu family.” The theater’s mission exploring and centering Asian voices was wonderful and welcoming. The racism I experienced in high school really had a grip on me, and it was so beautiful to experience a place where people like me have the experience of being centered and heard.

What did you learn from your New Eyes Festival experience?

That was the first time I heard the final scene, which I wasn’t sure I needed—but then I saw the audience’s reaction, and it was so overwhelmingly positive. And it helped me understand how to make the play more circular and balanced.

What do you mean by circular?

When I started writing this play, I knew I wanted to oscillate in time between the characters’ ages of 8, 17, and 26. The reason for the nine-year age gap is because, in the sect I grew up in, nine is a significant number. A girl becomes a woman at 9—it’s called wajib, when you start wearing hijab, when you start to pray. I wanted the same actors to play all these ages because I wanted it to feel uncanny.

What themes are you exploring?

I would describe the themes as misogyny and the patriarchy’s influence on religious structures. When you come from a collectivist culture and are flopped into a Western, individualistic world, how does that influence how you respond to yourself, to your needs and desires? And how do you serve your community? Wrapped up in all this is the theme of internalized homophobia.

I want to make it clear that this is not a reflection or indictment of Islam or religion. I’m interested in exploring how internalized homophobia is brought about by external systems pushing upon the collective.

You’ve got some really interesting voices at the table. What has surprised you in rehearsals?

I’m surprised and delighted by how everyone feels so connected to the material. When I was writing it, I was coming from the very specific lens of my own upbringing as a South Asian Indian. My parents grew up in Tanzania. They immigrated here before I was born. I grew up in the West with very specific cultural circumstances. I’m Shia Muslim, and there aren’t as many of us as the other major sect of Islam, Sunnis.

Our rehearsal room holds a group of very different people. I realized that if I wanted to cast players who are not just South Asian, parts of the play would have to change. In this performance the character of Noor is now Nigerian, and I hope she can be played by a diversity of actors. We’ve had conversations with our cultural consultants about the differences in our upbringing and understanding of Islam, of our understanding of organized religion, and how homophobia has played a role in our lives. There’s been so much unity in our experiences, even though they have all been so different, and that has been a wonderful surprise.

I’ve found it surprising too. As someone who was raised Catholic, it’s interesting how many of the specific circumstances of your upbringing resonate with my own experience of being raised in a patriarchal system. Totally. I always called Shia the “Catholics of Islam” because we’re like fundamentalists. We
believe we were right “first” and all these other people decided to spin off and do their own thing.

What would you like the audience to know about this play?

I would like them to know two things: that this story represents an extremely specific experience between two people, and that it is fictional. My hope is that in using this specific experience, it might make people feel fundamentally understood if they see a part of themselves in these characters. This play is about loving someone that you can’t have, and I think that’s a universal experience.

I’ve heard you say you are okay with ambiguity and discomfort, or maybe just ambiguity.

Maybe for some people there is discomfort in ambiguity. The audience might experience things they don’t understand, and that’s not only okay, it’s intentional. I have a lot of trust in audiences. ... After the show, it excites me to think that two people in car on the way home might disagree about whose side they are on. Maybe they’ll mull it over and have an interesting conversation.

LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR

When I was Theater Mu’s interim artistic director this past year, an opportunity arose for me to program a show into Mu’s 2025/26 season. Jane Peña, Mu’s office and literary manager, and I combed through several great options, but we found that we kept comparing each play we read to Samah Meghjee’s Maybe You Could Love Me, which was one of three plays read in Mu’s New Eyes Festival just a few months prior. I am not ashamed to admit that the moment we made the decision to produce the world premiere of Maybe You Could Love Me, I let out a squeal in the Mu office (and maybe jumped up and down for a second).

The reasons for my excitement were numerous. Samah’s dialogue is incredibly smart, drawing in both humor and gravity to bring these two characters to life. The content of the play is nuanced and layered, where we not only get to witness an earnest expression of love and how it is received, but we also see this relationship unfold within the rich and complex tapestry of the Muslim community. In fact, the main thing that struck me about Maybe You Could Love Me was the raw vulnerability that Samah elicits from both of her characters as they fight to see eye to eye on differing principles and ways of living in a Western patriarchal society.

What happens when the love is pure and simple, but the world around you makes it difficult and complicated?

I believe the arts are meant to uplift humankind by giving us the chance to not only witness stories that are our own, but to also experience stories that are different from ours. It is very easy to villainize and make assumptions about a community one does not know anything about. So the more we tell stories, the more human these groups become. Samah Meghjee’s Maybe You Could Love Me enriches our collective community by bringing us more perspectives and by uplifting those groups whose stories are scarcely found in the climate we are living in.

KATIE BRADLEY, director & producer

CAST BIOS

Ashembaga Jaafaru* (Noor)

Ashembaga (Ashe, she/her) is an actor + dancer + writer + artistic administrator + director who creates art for liberation of the mind, body, and SPIRIT + will continue to write + produce imaginative stories. Regional theater: A Raisin in the Sun (South Coast Repertory); School Girls; or the African Mean Girls Play (Arkansas Repertory Theater, Jungle Theater); For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf (KC Repertory Theatre, Penumbra); The Convert (Frank Theater). Film/TV: Keon, Zuri’s Tree. Other: Mlima’s Tale (asst. director, Ten Thousand Things Theater), HEFFA! by Eponine Diatta (director), Love is Like by Ibimina Dominque Thompson + Mariah Hanson (creative director/AD), Soulquakes by Marggie Ogas (dancer/collab), Bad Africans: A Guide to Being Oshey and Bardest in a F—ed Up World by Ibimina Dominque Thompson (director). Upcoming: Don’t Ask Me How I’m Doing (short film, AD/creative director). | IG: @ashejaafaru

Sushma Saha* (Sajida)

Sushma (pronoun inclusive) is a queer South Asian American artist (actor, singer, dancer, voiceover actor, model, & songwriter) based in NYC. Her most notable works include playing Judge James Wilson in the Broadway revival of 1776 and winning “outstanding performance in a leading role” at New York Musical Festival for playing Henry in Interstate by Melissa Li & Kit Yan. They are working on their first EP, This Isn’t About You, to be released on all music-streaming platforms. Broadway: 1776 (Roundabout). Off-Broadway: Presencia (Bushwick Starr), Chasing Grace (SheNYC), Interstate (NYMF). Off-Off Broadway: Swallow Me Whole (the Tank), You Must Wear a Hat (Interstitial), 7 Minutes (Waterwell), Girlfriend (Drama League). Regional: Interstate (Mixed Blood), The Wolves (ATL). | IG & TikTok: @sushmasahahaha

Eponine Diatta (Noor u/s)

Eponine (she/her) is a writer, performer, student, and content creator based in the Twin Cities. Eponine has been an active member of the Twin Cities theater and film community for over a decade and has previously appeared in productions at Jungle Theater, Youth Performance Company, and Tru Ruts, among others. Most recently, Eponine was a 2024/25 Many Voices’ mentee at the Playwrights’ Center. This is her first time performing at Theater Mu, and she is honored to be a part of the Maybe You Could Love Me cast.

Laila Sahir (Sajida u/s)

Laila (she/her) is an actor and theater artist who is most interested in working on stories that explore themes of power, and she’s thrilled to be working with Theater Mu for the first time. Previous credits: Upstream (Mixed Blood), Much Ado About Nothing (the Gray Mallard Theater), Rosette (New Arab American Theater Works), Antigonick (Full Circle Theater), Cabal (Walking Shadow Theatre), Mary’s Wondrous Body (the Birth Play Project). | lailasahir.com

Company BIOS

Samah Meghjee (playwright)

Samah (she/her) is a Muslim playwright and screenwriter based in LA. She writes about women who break the rules, and her work seeks to embolden the inner rebel inside us all. Samah is a member of the 2024/25 Geffen writers’ room, which will culminate with a fall reading of a new musical, The Deep End. Another script, Maybe You Could Love Me, has received an honorable mention for the Leah. Samah worked on the recently premiered A24/Apple TV+’s Sunny and 20th Century/Hulu’s Good American Family. She is a proud member of the Rickshaw Film Foundation. Samah graduated with an MFA in writing for the screen and stage at Northwestern University. Works formerly recognized by: Screencraft, 1497, the Black List, MUBI, WScripted, Amazon Prime, and more. | pyarproductions.com

Katie Bradley* (director, producer, offstage voice)

Katie (she/her) served Theater Mu as interim artistic director from July 2024 through spring 2025, but she has worked with the company in many different capacities since 2006. As an actor at Mu, she has appeared onstage in several productions, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Into the Woods, and The Kung Fu Zombies Saga: Shaman Warrior & Cannibals. She made her directorial debut in 2022 with Mu’s production of Man of God, directed the world premiere of Hells Canyon, and recently directed the critically acclaimed production of Stop Kiss. Outside of Mu, Katie has acted with several theater companies including the Guthrie Theater, Ten Thousand Things, Children’s Theatre Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and Pacific Conservatory Theatre.

Jessica Goldade Swanson* (stage & production manager)

Jessica (she/her) is excited to return to Theater Mu after being stage manager for Stop Kiss. Previous productions include Waitress, Pajama Game, Shrek, and Memphis with Artistry and A Unique Assignment and The Boy Wonder at History Theatre. She has also worked in production, operations, and administrative positions at Ordway, Artistry, Children’s Theatre Company, and the Old Log Theater.

Sarah Bahr (costume designer)

Sarah (she/her) is a Minneapolis-based costume and scenic designer working in theatre, opera, and dance. Sarah has worked with Theater Mu as scenic designer on Man of God and costume director on Cambodian Rock Band (co-pro with the Jungle Theater). Selected credits include Jungle Theater, Ten Thousand Things Theater, Trademark Theater, Artistry, Theater Latté Da, History Theatre, Minnesota Opera, Jacobs School of Music, BRKFST Dance Company, Ragamala Dance Company, and Vail Dance Festival. Sarah was recognized by American Theatre Magazine as a “Role Call people to watch: Twin Cities” in 2024 and was awarded a MN Theatre Award for exceptional overall production for her costume design for This Bitter Earth at Penumbra in 2018. As a proud member of United Scenic Artists Local 829, Sarah is a central region board member and activist for equity for theatre designers and technicians. Education: design and technical theatre MFA (UMN), studio art MA (NYU). | sarahbahr.com, @sarahbahrdesign on IG

China Brickey (assistant director)

China (she/her) feels it is has been such a privilege to serve as an assistant director for the world premiere of this beautiful piece. China has been an actor here in the Twin Cities for 10 years now. At Theater Mu she was last seen in the virtual production of Today is My Birthday. Selected regional credits: Guthrie Theater: Little Shop of Horrors, A Christmas Carol, Murder on the Orient Express; Theater Latté Da: Hello Dolly!; Cincinnati Playhouse: Murder on the Orient Express; Jungle Theater: Redwood; Children’s Theatre Company: Milo Imagines the World, Matilda, The Wiz; Indiana Repertory: The Play That Goes Wrong. | chinabrickey.com

Hannah Buss (assistant stage manager)

Hannah (she/her) is thrilled to be working on her first show at Theater Mu! Recent backstage credits include The Music Man (Lyric Arts), Matt & Ben (the Hive Collaborative), and The Government Inspector (Rosetown Playhouse). She received her BA in theatre from the University of Northwestern - Saint Paul and BA in political science from St. Cloud State University. | hannahbuss.com

Laurie Flanigan Hegge (dramaturg)

Laurie (she/her) is a Twin Cities playwright, lyricist, and performer. Recent projects include Irvin Coulee (commissioned by PRIME Productions for their 2025 Prime Voices series); Prick, a new play about the Scottish witch trials (OffFest award nominee, Edinburgh Fringe Fest); and Evidence of V, a new musical with composer/lyricist Jonatha Brooke adapted from Sheila O’Connor’s Minnesota Book Award-winning novel of the same name. Past Twin Cities premieres as playwright/lyricist: Dirty Business; Sweet Land, the Musical; Hormel Girls; 20 Days to Find a Wife (History Theatre).

Sarah Harris (co-properties designer)

Sarah (she/her) is delighted to join the Theater Mu team. She recently moved from Phoenix, AZ, where she was the properties manager for the Phoenix Theatre Company. Sarah spent eight years in NYC working for such companies as Jerard Studio, Theater for the New City, Bergdorf Goodman, Pip’s Island, and Bone Simple Designs. She was the properties master at Stages St. Louis for three seasons. As a designer, she has worked for the Dallas Theater Center, the Phoenix Theatre Company, Cape Fear Regional Theatre, the Constructivists in Milwaukee, Lincoln Community Playhouse, and Southern Methodist University, where she received her MFA in stage design in 2019. Sending all her love to Rich. | sharrisdesigns.com

Katharine Horowitz (sound designer)

Katharine (she/her) is a theatrical sound designer and composer in Minneapolis, MN. Previous Mu designs include Stop Kiss, Fifty Boxes of Earth, Hells Canyon, Man of God, Hot Asian Doctor Husband, and Purple Cloud. She has designed critically acclaimed and award-winning shows for the Guthrie Theater, Children’s Theatre Company, Theater Latté Da, Artistry, the Jungle Theater, History Theatre, Gremlin Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, Pillsbury House + Theatre, Park Square Theatre, Great River Shakespeare Festival, Second City Theatricals, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, Creed Repertory Theatre, and many others. Katharine is a 2017 McKnight theatre artist fellow at the Playwrights’ Center. | katsound.com

Kurt Jung (head electrician)

Kurt (he/him) is a freelance lighting technician throughout the Twin Cities, and was also head electrician for Theater Mu’s productions of Fifty Boxes of Earth and Stop Kiss. Kurt lives with his wife, Molly; their two kids; and an ever expanding menagerie of animals, including a cat, a dog, two chickens, a ball python, and a Russian tortoise.

Mina Kinukawa (scenic designer)

Mina (she/her) is a MN-based scenic designer and happy to be working with Theater Mu again. Design for MN theaters include: Ananya Dance Theatre, Theater Mu, Penumbra, MN Opera, Theater Latté Da, Jungle Theater, Full Circle Theater, New Native Theatre, and Pillsbury House + Theatre. She has also worked for film & TV, and designed scenery for regional theaters such as East West Players, EchoTheatre Company, Company of Angels, Milagro Theater, and Profile Theatre. Most recently, she designed scenery for Swapnō Jhnāp (Ananya Dance Theatre), Cambodian Rock Band (East West Players), and The Nut, The Hermit, The Crow, and The Monk (New Native Theatre). She is an associate professor in the theater and dance department at Macalester College and a member of the United Scenic Artists Local 829.

Kathy Maxwell (lighting designer)

Kathy (she/her) is a Twin Cities based theatrical lighting and video designer. She has worked at many local venues including Penumbra, Mixed Blood Theatre, Open Eye Figure Theatre, the History Theatre, the Jungle Theater, the Childrens’ Theatre, Theater Latté Da, the Ordway, and the Guthrie Theater. She is currently the production manager at the Jungle Theater. Select national credits include Utah Opera Company, Des Moines Metro Opera, Keegan Theatre, and Arizona Theatre Company. Kathy is a frequent mentor and instructor at the University of Minnesota and a recurring adjunct professor at Macalester College.

Lily K. Petit (lighting design fellow)

Lily has recently moved to the Twin Cities area and is extremely excited to be working on this incredible show at Theater Mu. Credits include The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay at IU Jacobs School of Music (assistant lighting designer and spots captain), Shawnee Summer Theatre for summer 2024 (lighting designer), A Christmas Carol at Forest Roberts Theatre (lighting designer), Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Cardinal Stage (assistant lighting designer), Into the Woods at Flint Rep (associate lighting designer). She is grateful to Kathy and the Theater Mu team for this opportunity and hopes you enjoy the show!

Filsan Said (cultural consultant)

Filsan (she/her) is a freelance director and playwright based in Minneapolis, MN. She has working credits with Pangea World Theater, Playwrights’ Center, Ten Thousand Things, Illusion Theater, New Arab American Theater, Guthrie Theater, Theater Mu, and Penguin Random House. She served as the 2023/24 artistic and administrative apprentice at the Playwrights’ Center and is a member of the 2024 Kennedy Center directing intensive cohort. Education: BIS theater arts, geography, African American and African studies at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities | filsansaid.com

Siddeeqah Shabazz (assistant director)

Siddeeqah (she/her) is originally from Oakland, CA. She graduated with degrees in theater from the University of La Verne in Southern California and the Guildford School of Acting in England. Siddeeqah has acted with numerous theater companies in the Twin Cities including Full Circle, Climb, Shadow Horse, Gadfly, Chain Reaction, Freshwater, 20% Theatre, Exposed Brick, Savage Umbrella, Aniccha Arts, Intermedia Arts, Artistry, Underdog Theatre, Transatlantic Love Affair, and Wonderlust Productions. As a playwright, her stories have been produced by Exposed Brick Theatre and Full Circle Theater Company, and she has directed at South High School, Children’s Performing Arts, Youth Performance Company, and Lyric Arts. Siddeeqah is thrilled to work with Theater Mu for the first time!

Kenji Shoemaker (co-properties designer)

Kenji (he/they) is a props person and stage manager based in the Twin Cities. Previous Mu credits include: Fast Company, peerless, Man of God, Again, Hells Canyon, and The Kung Fu Zombies Saga. Other recent credits include work with American Players Theatre, Children’s Theatre Company, Ten Thousand Things Theater, History Theatre, Full Circle Theater, and the Minnesota Opera. In addition to his freelance work, Kenji is also a 2024 Art In This Present Moment recipient artist and has taught at Macalester College.

Aamera Siddiqui (cultural consultant)

Aamera (she/her) is a playwright performer as well as an intercultural development consultant and coach. She is thrilled to be working with Theater Mu on Maybe You Could Love Me. Aamera is the co-artistic director and co-founder of Exposed Brick Theatre, an organization dedicated to telling untold stories, centering omitted narratives and creating art at the intersection of identities. Aamera has always been passionate about merging the worlds of theater and justice. Her playwriting credits include Log Kya Kahenge (Lyric Arts), Freedom Daze (Southern Theater), Cloth (Southern Theater), and American as Curry Pie (History Theatre). Aamera is also a baking enthusiast and is currently working on perfecting her matcha tea cake.

Austin Stiers (technical director)

Austin (he/him) is a Saint Paul-based technical director and theatre administrator. He has worked in many different theatres all over the Midwest, usually with an emphasis in educational theatre. When not building sets for theatre, he spends his time doing home renovation projects or working on sets for escape rooms. Austin is very excited to be back working with Theater Mu! Past Theater Mu credits include: Stop Kiss, Hells Canyon, The Kung Fu Zombies Saga, and Fifty Boxes of Earth.

Alli St. John (intimacy director)

Alli (she/her) is a local director/intimacy director whose work has been seen around the Twin Cities and around the US. Most recent intimacy work includes Fun Home (Theater Latté Da); Witch (Walking Shadow); Anna in the Tropics (UMN); A Christmas Carol, The Importance of Being Earnest (Guthrie); and Eurydice (Macalester College). Alli is the founding artistic director of Thought Bubble Theatre and serves as the casting director/associate producer for Children’s Theatre Company. She has trained with
Theatrical Intimacy Education and holds an MFA from Arizona State University in theater for youth and community. | allistjohn.com

Theater Mu

Theater Mu (pronounced MOO) is the largest Asian American theater company in the Midwest. Founded in 1992, Mu sits at the intersection of arts, equity, and justice, and it tells stories from the heart of the Asian American experience. Its mission of celebrating and empowering the Asian American community through theater is achieved through mainstage productions, emerging artist support, and educational outreach programs. Theater Mu is a member of the Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists as well as a member of the Twin Cities Theatres of Color Coalition with New Native Theatre, Pangea World Theater, Penumbra, Teatro Del Pueblo, New Arab American Theater Works, and Ikidowin. | theatermu.org

Fran de Leon (artistic director)

Fran (she/her) joined Theater Mu as artistic director in spring 2025. Fran began producing at 19, including her one-person show, Faces of America, which toured to over 500 venues. She has also served as co-artistic director of Will & Company, director of new talent for Playfair, an ensemble member of Critical Mass Performance Group, and as adjunct faculty at USC. Fran is a 2025 Drama League directing fellow and a finalist for the Barb Whitman Award. Selected commissions from: Segerstrom Center’s Arts Teach, TreePeople, Twelfth Night Rep, and Center Theatre Group. Selected TV credits: For All Mankind, For the People, Criminal Minds, Speechless, and The Brothers Sun.

Anh Thu T. Pham (managing director)

Anh Thu (she/her) joined the Mu staff as managing director in July 2020. A child of refugees from Viet Nam, Anh Thu was brought up as part of the Minnesota Vietnamese American Buddhist community. She has more than two decades of experience in accounting and as a community organizer, anti-war activist, and speaker on Asian American Pacific Islander solidarity and movement building. She has worked as a cultural consultant for the Guthrie Theater and Theater Mu/Stages Theatre Company, and is a board member of Minnesota Citizens for the Arts and CAATA.

Thank You

Because of you, we are able to provide Pay As You Are ticketing, paid mentorships, and more. Thank you for supporting Mu! View the complete list of our donors by visiting theatermu.org/donors.

SEASON 2025/26 SPONSORS

MU CHAMPIONS CIRCLE

designs by Fuechee Thao/KNOCK, inc.

SEA TURTLE ($1,000-$2,499)

Angela M. Bohmann & Jonathan Riehle, Anonymous Patron, Cynthia & Larry Lee, Gail & Richard Bohr, Gregory & Penny Anderson, John Sullivan, Judith & George Murakami, Nelson Williams, Nonoko Sato & Ted Johnson, Rachel Brown, Rick Shiomi & Martha Johnson, Ruby Pediangco & Matt Shumway, Stephan Kieu & Julie Timm, Susan Stacey, Todd Paulson

MAYBE YOU COULD LOVE ME digital playbill

CAST