Plays

Kung Fu Zombies Vs. Cannibals

Commissioned by Theater Mu

Part of the Kung Fu Zombies Play Cycle

A Lao American woman must bring her parents’ ashes back to their motherland. Along her journey, she meets a mysterious orphan, hood-ass Buddhist monks and the scrappy street kid they raised. The only thing more dangerous than zombies that know kung fu are the cannibals waiting and hungry in the dark. 

4F, 2M + Ensemble of Zombies and Cannibals

High Octane + Spooky + Hella Queer + Feminist 

Kung Fu Zombies Vs. Southeast Asian Girl Scouts

Part of the Kung Fu Zombies Play Cycle

This play is currently being written.

Seng's Hair Salon

Commissioned by InterAct Theatre Company

A deeply moving and unexpectedly funny ‘traumedy’ about three generations of beauticians at a small salon in South Philly who are pulled between their desires, their secrets, and their duties to each other. It takes a haunting, decades in the making, to bring it all to the surface.

5F, 1M

Heartwarming + Spooky + Upliftingly Funny

Title IV

Co-Created by Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay, Marcie Rendon, Jessica Huang, and Eli Effinger-Weintraub

Commissioned by Theatre Unbound

A young athlete named Anygirl struggles to keep her place on the school track team, despite upsets at home and shoes held together with duct tape. In a dream, she is transported to a timeless Fan Jam where she is coached and empowered by extraordinary real-life athletes past and present, including Toni Stone (the first woman to play big-league baseball), Nina Chenault (a karate black belt), and Amy “Smokahontas” St. Clair (an All Star roller derby champ). 

7F

Girl Power + Feel-good + Empowering

Buried by the Garden in Little Mekong

Part of the Little Mekong Play Cycle

In Little Mekong, The Flower Shop isn't what it seems. Bouquets are sold in the front of the store while assassination orders are taken in the back. These women assassins are just like you and me -- they’re trying to protect their reproductive rights while also juggling family, motherhood, and their social lives. This is a timely play that examines harmful rhetoric, misinformation, and legislation on reproductive health. 

5F

Feminist + Unapologetic + Violent 

Development History: In fall of 2024, Saymoukda received a direct invitation by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to write Buried by the Garden at The REACH. In January 2025, Buried by the Garden was awarded a Forecast Public Art grant to support a workshop. This play is seeking further development opportunities. 

Slaugtherhouse in Little Mekong

Part of the Little Mekong Play Cycle

This play examines labor, abuse, and workers’ rights in a slaughterhouse. This play is currently being written.

Kung Fu Zombies Vs. Shaman Warrior

Commissioned by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center

Part of the Kung Fu Zombies Play Cycle

Gifted with the power to communicate with The Other Side, a young Akha woman must find her missing sister by reconnecting with her cultural power and trusting her instincts and the teachings of shamans from generations before her. 

6F, 6M + Ensemble of Zombies

Fantastical + Multi-Generational + Spooky + Action 

Hmong Lao Friendship Play

Co-Created by Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay and May Lee-Yang

Commissioned by Lazy Hmong Woman Productions

A comedy about playwrights, foodies, and real-life BFFs May (a Hmong refugee) and Saymoukda (a Lao refugee) from two ethnic communities who have historically locked horns. Set to the backdrop of karaoke music and Little House on the Prairie fantasies, May and Saymoukda hack their way through stories about refugee life, learning how to be American through pop culture, and empowering their brethren through the Hot Asian Man project.

2F

Humorous + Vulnerable + Irreverent

Upstream

Co-Created by Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay, Ryan Hill, Blossom Johnson, and Johanna Keller Flores

Commissioned by Mixed Blood Theatre

An otherworldly immersive play about climate resilience that guides audiences on a search for the river’s missing daughter.

11M/F/All Genders

Adventurous + Climate Change + Inspiring 

In the Camps: A Refugee Musical

A beautician, an ex-monk, a newly wed, and a former soldier recount life before the Secret War while imagining their futures as they await resettlement approvals in one-week’s time.

2F, 3M

Funny + Vulnerable + Historical-ish Drama-dy

Development History: initial travel + research and first draft of this project was funded by Forecast Public Art and the Jerome Foundation. This project received a workshop at HowlRound Theatre Commons/Emerson College in February 2023. The Minnesota workshop production in September 2023 was funded by the Knight Foundation, MAP Fund, and the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council. This project is seeking further development opportunities. 

Dead Cops in Little Mekong

Part of the Little Mekong Play Cycle

Disgraced Detective Alice Vang is hired by a former beauty queen to find her missing cop husband. No one in Little Mekong wants to talk. The activist running for state rep, the karaoke DJ, the boba shop owner, and even the beauty queen are suspects in this fast-paced mystery. 

5F, 3M

Funny + Whodunnit + Redemptive 

Development Histoy: In fall of 2023, Saymoukda received a direct invitation from the Djerassi Foundation made possible by a partnership with the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network for a 2-week residency where Dead Cops was written. This play is seeking further development opportunities. 

Snow Queen

Co-Created by Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay and Tyler Olsen-Highness 

Commissioned by Rosetown Playhouse

A modern, bright, and multicultural take on the 1844 classic fairytale by Hans Christian Anderson. When Kay is taken away by the cruel Snow Queen, their best friend Gerda sets out to find them. Gerda journeys through a forest full of robbers, a bewitching garden, and other odd-but-delightful pit stops in her search for her best friend. 

30+ M/F/All Genders - best for community theaters & student productions. Exciting re-imagining of a classic