Purple Cloud

WHO

Mu Performing Arts

WHEN

10/01/2016 – 10/10/2016

WHERE

Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Ashland

By Jessica Huang
Directed by Randy Reyes
Mu Performing Arts

In Purple Cloud, three generations of Huangs deal with the many facets of their multiracial identities as they embark on a mythical journey from China to Minneapolis and back again — accompanied by four Jade pieces along the way. Through three intertwining stories, the Huang family navigates through the messy and beautiful business of acculturation: Grandpa Lee immigrates from Shanghai to America during World War II; his son Orville deals with his confusion as a first generation Asian American, taught to pass as white and unsure of his own blood; and his granddaughter fights for her Chinese-ness through a tattoo of a deer and the search for her true name.

About Mu Performing Arts
Mu Performing Arts is the largest Asian American performing arts organization in the Midwest. Founded in 1992, Mu tells untold stories from the heart of the Asian American experience —presenting a fusion of traditional and contemporary artistic influences ranging from classics to up-and-coming voices in the Asian American community. Mu’s continuing goal, to give voice to the Asian American experience through theater and taiko, is achieved through mainstage productions, emerging artist support, and educational outreach programs. In 2011, Mu Performing Arts published a new anthology of plays through Temple University Press, Asian American Plays for a New Generation. Six of the seven plays included were commissioned and/or produced by Mu. Mu Performing Arts is a proud member of CAATA and the Twin Cities Theatres of Color Coalition.