The Hmong Youth Association

and the

Playwrights' Center

PRESENT

Seventh Place Theatre

St. Paul, Minnesota

November 6 - 21, 1992

Play Program

Notes from Nkauj'lis Lyfoung:

As young children, each of us has heard the Hmong folklores and moral tales told by our grandparents and/or parents. Told during the state of mind between waking and unconsciousness; between real and unreal; and to those of us who have fbd our homelands, during the state of uncertainty and the unknown. These tabs are records and fingerprints of highly creative and imaginative Hmong who have chosen to express themselves through oral storytelling. They have decided to teach and give back to the world - their children and grandchildren, what they have barned and eperienced in their lives - passion, hope, suffering, greed, fear, and love. The artists of "Peg Yog Hmoob" hope to continue this tradition of oral storytelling, blending it with a Western arn tradition - Drama.

Even if each of our bodies have tread different waters, whether it be the Mekong River, the Pacific Ocean, or the Mediterranean, our heans and rninds yearn to learn about our past, and our future, here in America. Living in different time frames; different proponions of space, forms, values, and colors; living in different worlds, whether it be spiritual or the Twin Cities, the Hmong American arnists of this play realized the need to stop time, reflect, explore, and share a slice of each of our lives with you.

All of us who have panicipated in the creation of this play hope that, tonight, you will experience what we treasure the most - bonding, sharing, eating; to what we fear the most - the tiger, who hides, breathes, and hungers for our human flesh and souls.

Nrog rau kwv tij neej tsa Hmoob sawv daws ntaw n yoo 1992. Leej twg tej me tub me nyuarn lawv tej npe hu li cas? Tsi thob muab nej tej me tub me nyuam lub npe tis hu ua "dev", "npuasn, "qal, "tsov", "khaub rhuab", bs yog thoob dej, rau qhov tej no lawv tub muaj lawv lub luag hawj Iwm lawm. Tab si tis nej tus me tub me nyuam lub npe mog koob hmoov. Noj qab nyob zoo, nyob mus ib txhis kom plaub hau dawb paug es nws lub npe thiaj yuav noo mus tag ib sim neej, thiab yuav nyob mus txog hnub kawg.

Translated for Nkauj'lis Lyfoung by Sue Thao and Pao Chang

CAST

Maykou's mother/Mother    Tia Yang
Maykou's father/Father    Charlie Chang
Leng                      Seng Cha
Grandmother/Shadow        Nkauj'lis Lyfoung
Gaozoua                   Khoua Chang
Paogee                    A-Yia Thao
Kong                      Kong Yang
Pai                       Pajnhiag Nengchu
                          Sandy Yang
Tong                      Monzong Thao
                          Peng Cha
Maykou                    Linda Cha
Tiger                     Jaime Meyer
Blia                      Her Yang
(In Laos)Leng             Keng Thao
(In Laos)Gaozoua          Shawn Cha
(In Laos)Kong             Johnny Vang Nengchu
(In Laos)Blia             Momcy Chang
                          Chee Chang
                          Fue Thao
Choua                     Kaying Thao
Song Yang/Old Man         Sue Thao
Steve                     Khe Thao
Joe                       Thai Yang
James                     Doua Chang
Singer                    Pau Thao
Extra                     Tou Tou Vang

WRITERS

Her Yang                  Nkauj'lis Lyfoung
Khoua Chang               Charlie Chang
Pang Thao                 Mike Moua
Sue Thao                  Kong Yang
Jaime Meyer               Tia Yang
Yis leng Vang             Her Vang
Foung Heu                 Koua Yang
Tou Tou Vang              Cha Yang
Seng Cha                  Yee Chang
Tom Thao

POSTER ART

Tou Tou Vang
Yis leng Vang
Pui Moua

MUSICIANS

Keng Yang
Keng Thao
Sue Thao
Khe Thao

TECHNICIANS

Wayne Hendricks
Nik Nikolaidis - Lighting
Lasaros Nikolaidis - Sound

BOX OFFICE

Erica Herrmann
Pang Thao
Keng Yang
Pacyinz Lyfoung
Maly Lyfoung

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Lee Pao Xiong                Ordway Theatre
Lynn Strand                  Guthrie Theatre
Lori Sullivan                Miced Blood Theatre
Merillee David               Hmong Handwork, St. Paul

Notes from Jaime Meyer

A play is a living thing. It grows and changes continually all through the creation, an through the first production, and for many productions to follow. Our play began growing when the writers met in late June. We met three nights a week all summer. We improvised many scenes and forgot them only to have them reappear months later in another form. Many people wrote material at home, and we worked through it in writing rehearsals. Some people wrote in groups. We did not know what, eactly, the play would become (we still don't), but our main job was to let our passion guide us, and always to trust ourselves. When we began rehearsals in late September, we thought the script would stop growing and we would just be able to rehearse it. But to our surprise (and joy and fear) it kept refining and re-defining itself. As a playwright, I wanted to allow the play to become what it wanted to become. I wanted it to speak the truth, and to speak with compassion, and that takes much patience. To me, the heart of collaboration is patience and trust. But as a director, I wanted the damn thing to stop changing so we could tighten the production. What you will see tonight is a play which is still growing, a production that attempts to contain a changing thing, and hold it briefly in place for your viewing. Some of the more radical changes in the last week and a half have included changes in casting, additions in technicals, and about five different endings. Our goal tonight is to give you the best production we could of a play that was getting deeper each moment, right up to curtain time. Thank you for coming to our play.

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Craig D. Rice, Academic Computing Center, St . Olaf College <cdr@stolaf.edu>