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American playwrights May Lee-Yang (Hmong), Marty Strenczewilk (Ojibwe/White), and Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay (Laotian) are known for creating unapologetic stories that center and privilege their respective ethnic/cultural communities. In this livestream, they chat about how heritage shapes their playwriting, combating stereotypes and shifting narratives, being their communities' pride (or shame), and much more!
This conversation is made possible with support from HowlRound Theatre Commons, Theater Mu, and the Mellon Foundation. As of publication, Saymoukda is currently serving her second term as a playwright in residence at Theater Mu as part of the Mellon Foundation National Playwright in Residency Program.
Artist Bios
Marty Strenczewilk is an award winning Ojibwe/white mixed-race storyteller, playwright, librettist, and lyricist, enrolled with the Sault Ste. Marie tribe. His first full-length play Pink Man or The Only Indian in the Room was the winner of the 2023 Crossroads Project Diverse Voices playwriting competition, culminating in a workshop and residency at Illinois State University. His second full-length play Indian Giver has been in development with InterAct Theatre in Philadelphia, under their new play development program. Marty is also the story editor for season six of the NPR podcast The Modern West, which explores the true history behind the Plains Indian Wars. He was the co-founder of At Hand Theatre Company, an Off-Broadway new plays company that operated in NYC successfully for a decade. Previously, Marty was the Managing Director for Creative Nations, an all Indigenous artists collective, founded at The Dairy Arts Center in Boulder, Colorado. Under Creative Nations he produced Native art across genres, including launching the First Storyteller’s Festival to develop work for the stage by Native artists. He has a Theatre BA from SUNY Buffalo and has studied at The Barrow Group, Broadway Dance Center, Alvin Ailey, HB Studio, and Joffrey Ballet. He can be found online here.
Saymoukda is a Lao-American playwright, poet, and children's book author. She’s best known for her play Kung Fu Zombies VS Cannibals and children’s book When Everything Was Everything. Her plays include Kung Fu Zombies VS Shaman Warrior, Dead Cops in Little Mekong, Buried by the Garden in Little Mekong, Title IX, and Hmong Lao Friendship Play. Her work has been presented by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (New York), Theater Mu (Minnesota), Lower Depth Theater (Los Angeles), Asian Improv Arts (Illinois), and elsewhere. She’s currently a Mellon Foundation Playwright in Residence at Theater Mu, a Jerome@Camargo Artist in Residence in Cassis, France, a Playwrights Center Core Writer, a Lanesboro Arts Artist in Residence, and a Forecast Public Art grantee. Recent honors include a Bush Foundation Leadership Fellowship, a Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship, and a Kennedy Center REACH Office Hours Residency. Other awards include grants and fellowships from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Jerome Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Bush Foundation, Andy Warhol Foundation, MAP Fund, Loft Literary Center and dozens more. Community contributions include serving on the City of Saint Paul Cultural STAR Board and Governor Tim Walz's State Poet Laureate Program Design Committee and Interview & Selection Committee. Her upcoming plays include commissions from Mixed Blood Theatre (Minnesota 2025), Theater Mu (Minnesota 2026), InterAct Theatre Co. (Pennsylvania 2026), and the University of Minnesota Immigration History and Research Center (Minnesota). BA: English, University of Minnesota. MA: Liberal Studies, University of Minnesota. Website. @refugenius
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