The East Side Freedom Library and Exposed Brick Theatre invite you to a selected reading of the upcoming production of:

Muyehpen by Ehkhudah Zar

Followed by an Artist Talk with the playwright, cast and director Eliza Rasheed.

Join us in-person or on Zoom here!

Based on a folktale that has been passed down for generations by the Karen people of Burma, Muyehpen captures the story of a woman with supernatural powers who sacrificed for her people. Known to be the most beautiful Karen woman in her time, Muyehpen was sold out by her people, kidnapped by a Thai king and forced to marry someone she didn’t love. This is her narrative of resilience and resistance, which lives on today. In May, the play will receive its world premiere production in St. Paul and will be the first-ever theater production by a Karen artist in the state.

BIOS:

Ehkhudah Zar,Playwright

Ehkhudah Zar is an artist and playwright based in St. Paul, MN. She migrated to the U.S. due to persecution in Burma. A graduate of Bethel College, Ehkhudah has worked with EBT over the past 5 years as an actor and writer.  Her commissions include The Front Line, commissioned as part of the Through Our Eyes project in 2020, and a current commission about memory and aging for The Remember Project. Ehkhudah has interned and performed with Theatre Mu, and is the recipient of a Creative Support for Individuals award from the MN State Arts Board. To her knowledge, Ehkhudah is the only Karen professional performance artist in the world, however, she wants to change that by creating works where Karen people can see themselves reflected on stage.

Eliza Rasheed, Director

Eliza Rasheed is a Maldivian/Taiwanese multi-disciplinary performance artist and director based in Minnesota. Her work and activism have taken her across the United States and Asia. Eliza’s work primarily focuses on fostering spaces to tell stories that are not often told in MN theater, drawing from her lived experiences growing up as a multi-lingual, multi-racial, and multicultural global citizen.  An award winning educator, Eliza leads the theater program at Global Arts Plus. She has received fellowships through Jerome Foundation’s Naked Stages, the Playwright’s Center’s Many Voices program, and received a Community Collaboration Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. Her play In Between has been featured on TPT Originals.