Theater review: The Hmong women are tough and funny in Jungle Theater’s powerful ‘Sixpack’

The cast of the Jungle Theater s premiere production of Katie Ka Vang s Sixpack features Pagnia Xiong front and from left Megan Kim Dorothy Vang Ashley Horiuchi Phasoua Vang and Dexieng Dae Yang It plays through June Courtesy Lauren B Photography Fifty years ago Hmong people first arrived in Minnesota as refugees from the wars of Southeast Asia In their Laotian homeland they were earmarked for destruction for having aided the U S side in the Vietnam War and Minnesota became one of two states to help resettle the vast majority of those who escaped California being the other In the present day those of Hmong descent are an integral part of the Minnesota mosaic but one of them St Paul-based playwright Katie Ka Vang looked around and saw something missing There were Hmong women with a certain style that never hit the pop civilization radar Tough streetwise cocksure and confident deeply devoted to their families friends and society but not the least bit demure or deferential Judging from her new play Sixpack which premiered this weekend at Minneapolis Jungle Theater Vang knew just where to find them the volleyball court That s where she saw these women s aggressiveness competitive fire and camaraderie come through And she s taking Twin Cities audiences there via a funny absorbing and very rewarding -minute theater piece that chronicles the friendship of two St Paul girls whose paths eventually diverged Deftly directed by Sara Pillatzki Warzeha Sixpack entertainingly explores the ties that bind six women together doing so with sharp-eared dialogue vivid characterizations and an abundance of imagination in its design and choreography On the latter account Sandy Agustin has created various fascinating transitional interludes that blend volleyball movements with elements of religious ritual Pam Ashley Horiuchi left and Auntie Windy Phasoua Vang center make a plan to help their troubled volleyball teammate Jou Dorothy Vang in the Jungle Theater s premiere production of Katie Ka Vang s Sixpack playing through June Courtesy Lauren B Photography When we first meet Pam and Jou they seem strangers but it soon becomes clear that they re estranged friends We re then cast backward to their high school years when they re both starting to impress coaches and college recruiters as promising volleyball players Pam feels ambivalent about leaving for college while Jou desperately wants out largely due to a troubled relationship with her mother They re supported and sometimes antagonized by a colorful retinue of women and each actor in the six-woman cast policies forward to steal at least one scene Or several in the situation of Phasoua Vang as the comical Auntie Windy largest part memorably when she proves the volleyball equivalent of a pool shark while crafting a con Pam is the engaging center of the story and that s thanks not only to the fine writing but also to Ashley Horiuchi s eminently believable portrayal While Dorothy Vang could bring more of Jou s exasperated restlessness to the surface there s little she can do to upstage what Dexieng Dae Yang does with her mother Smiles the the majority brassy take-no-guff character in the show a woman both fun-loving and bitter It feels like a bold breakthrough performance for Yang one of both force and subtlety They re complemented very well by Megan Kim and Pagnia Xiong in multiple roles the latter shining when this quite profitable Hmong music artist breaks into a sweet-voiced song that no one recognizes until she fast-forwards to the chorus in funny fashion and it turns into an exuberant sing-along Four women share a song in the Jungle Theater s premiere production of Katie Ka Vang s Sixpack which plays through June From left are Megan Kim Dexieng Dae Yang Phasoua Vang and Pagnia Xiong Courtesy Lauren B Photography Taking its title from the slang term for taking a spiked volleyball in the face Sixpack deals with certain jarring realities but does so with a lot of humor and not a hint of melodrama It s a richly real and ultimately powerful production Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub yahoo com Related Articles Review Great script meets expert acting in Park Square s Between Riverside and Crazy Theater review History Theatre s Whoa Nellie tunefully tackles issues of gender and fame Review The jukebox musical reaches its zenith with Juliet Theology gets a snarky irreverent shake-up in Six Points An Act of God Review Children s Theatre does modern Broadway well with Frozen Sixpack When Through June Where Jungle Theater Lyndale Ave S Mpls Tickets - available at - - or jungletheater org Capsule A very well-crafted play and production about selected very colorful Hmong women