REFUGENIUS STORY
About
Saymoukda is the country's leading Lao American playwright and artist.
Photo by Melissa Vang
Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay is an award-winning Lao American playwright who uses cultural production to uplift Laotian and Southeast Asian stories.
The host of CNN’s “United Shades of America” W. Kamau Bell, called her work “revolutionary.” Governor Mark Dayton recognized her and others with a Lao Artists Heritage Month Proclamation.
In 2019, MN's artistic leaders recognized her commitment to innovative cultural production with an Ordway Center for Performing Arts Sally Award for Initiative. The prestigious award recognizes “strategic leadership undertaken by an individual...that will have a significant impact on strengthening Minnesota’s artistic/cultural community.”
She’s best known for plays, KUNG FU ZOMBIES VS CANNIBALS (Theater Mu 2013), HMONG/LAO FRIENDSHIP PLAY (Lazy Hmong Woman Productions 2015), KUNG FU ZOMBIES VS SHAMAN WARRIOR (Smithsonian APAC 2016), an adaptation of THE SNOW QUEEN (Rosetown Playhouse 2022), and IN THE CAMPS: A REFUGEE MUSICAL (Refugenius Lab 2023), and SENG'S HAIR SALON (InterAct Theatre Company 2026).
SENG'S HAIR SALON has the distinction of being InterAct's "highest selling" show in its 37-year history!
The Walking Shadow Theatre Company, Lower Depth Theater, Asian Improv Arts, Mixed Blood Theater, Jungle Theater, and elsewhere have presented her work.
The final play in the KUNG FU ZOMBIES play cycle, KUNG FU ZOMBIES VS SOUTHEAST ASIAN GIRL SCOUTS, has a world premiere on October 31, 2026 at the Frey Theater in St. Paul. It is directed by Fran de Leon and produced by Theater Mu. Buy tickets here.
In 2024, she was the first Minnesota artist to receive a direct invitation to be a Kennedy Center artist in residence at the REACH.
For her playwriting, she's received developmental support from the Playwrights’ Center, MAP Fund, Djerassi Foundation, Hedgebrook, Venturous Fund, Forecast Public Art, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, Everwood Foundation, and Lanesboro Arts, to name a few.
She's a 2-term Mellon Foundation playwright-in-residence at Theater Mu, a Core Writer at the Playwrights' Center, a Jerome Foundation and Camargo Foundation artist in residence in Cassis, France, and a MN State Arts Board Cultural Expressions grantee.
She holds multiple fellowships from the Bush, McKnight, and Jerome foundations and is a recipient of 40+ grants/fellowships in the last decade alone.
Saymoukda is a proud University of Minnesota alum, having received her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and a Master's in Liberal Studies with a focus on public policy and arts & cultural leadership there. In 2024, she returned to the U of MN-Twin Cities as the College of Continuing & Professional Studies commencement speaker. In 2026, she gave the commencement address to the graduating class at the U of MN-Morris.
Most recently, she was recognized as a 1MN History Maker by Governor Tim Walz’s office and had the honor of penning and performing a poem for the historical inauguration of St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Vang Her (the first Southeast Asian American mayor of MN’s capitol city).
She’s on the Governor’s APIA Roundtable of community leaders and is sought as a cultural consultant for legislators, nonprofit leaders, and arts institutions.
In 2025, she narrated the documentary, "Journey from Hmong Refugees to Minnesota Veterans", produced by MN Senate Media Services. It won a regional Emmy Award in the Political/Government-Short or Long Form Content category.
Photo By Xu Yang
Photo by Matthew Boerst
If you're looking to hire Saymoukda as a cultural producer, curator, program designer, or community connector, she's an experienced producer/administrator of over 20+ arts and cultural projects and programs that include a 1-night Southeast Asian artists takeover of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, a documentary on Asian American spiritual beliefs produced by the MN Humanities Center and the State Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans, a neighborhood-wide poster exhibit during the pandemic, a workshop production of a musical that takes place in a refugee camp, 4 sold-out comedy shows at the Ordway and Fitzgerald, and more.
Hire Me!
Commissions
I'm available for commissions specializing in short to full-length plays, poetry, and essays.
Consultations
I help artists and creatives identify, navigate, and apply for artist grants and fellowships. Between 2020-26, I helped 181 individual artists with their grant proposals and project ideation, artist statements, budgets, timelines, etc.
Speaking Engagements
I can give talks or moderate conversations around identity, the Southeast Asian diaspora, creative writing, the artist’s life, philanthropy + arts funding, my lived experiences, taking up space as a storyteller, and more.