When I think of our New Eyes Festival, I always think of surprises. It never turns out as I anticipated. Two years ago, none of us ever thought Cowboy Versus Samurai would hit us somewhere between our funny bone and our social conscience. And now it’s been a hit in New York and is coming to our main stage this February. Last year it was hard to get someone to direct Bahala Na by Clarence Coo, but his lyrical writing impressed all of us at the festival. Something magical definitely happens at the festival, and all we have to do is show up and listen.

But that said, there’s always a lot of hard work and difficult decisions to make in selecting pieces for each festival. I give my deepest thanks to Katie Leo for being our Literary Manager for the festival, with additional thanks to Katie Schoeneck, our intern assistant, and to Josephine Lee, our new board member and professor at the U of M.

This year I have been really excited about finding new voices from Asian America and cultivating those we already know and want to help develop. Clarence Coo comes to mind right away with his play Braids. Then there are Alex Park and Alexis Camins who are leading the charge on the contemporary comedy front. We have our children’s play, written by Elizabeth Wong, who has been one of the more successful playwrights of the past decade, and we have found a truly new voice in Soo Jin Lee with her play Peaches. We will again do an excerpt from a musical, this year’s selection being The Wedding Banquet by Welly Yang and Brian Yorkey. Welly has been described as “a force of nature,” and we are eager to hear his work. We wrap up the 2006 festival with a new taiko composition by Iris Shiraishi. Our choices have been made, and we’re eager to be surprised.