Fresno performer Jasmine Vang steps into the spotlight this week at the 2024 Rogue Festival, showcasing a story familiar to many first-generation Hmong-American families with her solo-performance debut of “The Latehomecomer.”
Vang brings to life the narrative of a refugee immigrant child and her family, navigating through the challenges of adapting to American culture. Her performance depicts the realities and struggles faced by individuals who are in search of a new beginning.
The performance at Fresno’s LAByrinth Art Collective’s is the California debut for the stage production of the work, which is based on an award-winning family memoir by Kao Kalia Yang, a Hmong-American author who lives in Minnesota.
Vang’s appearance follows her 2023 Rogue Festival performance, when she presented her solo play “Hmong Class 101,” which explored her Hmong-American dual identity.
The Fresno native discovered her love of performance during elementary school when she participated in a play at Manchester Elementary School. Vang recalled that she wore traditional Hmong clothing in the play, filling her with pride in her cultural identity.
In high school, her passion for acting grew when she discovered that, by taking on a role, she could channel her high energy into performance.
“I had a role in my sophomore year: I was the best friend and I got to be really loud and crazy,” she recalled. “That was when I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is so fun!’”
She continued theater throughout her years at Edison High School. She then attended California State University Long Beach, where she obtained her bachelor’s degree in theater arts performance in 2019.
“I discovered my voice through theater. I think that’s why my work is so centralized and building up the Hmong community or just speaking about the Hmong community because there’s not that many of us.”
As a child, Vang said she did not have anyone to mentor her as an actor. But, she encouraged herself to continue working towards her dream. And while her family initially was reluctant to support her work and she had to fight to pursue acting, they now are among her biggest supporters, showing up to her shows.
“I think I had a lot of support and I recognize the privilege in that because I know a lot of families don’t have that,” Vang said.
After college, Vang returned to Fresno, where she has continued producing her solo plays and collaborated with other Hmong creatives while working as a substitute teacher, educating Hmong students.
In addition to her self-written solo play “Hmong Class 101,” she recently collaborated on the Hmong comedy show “Hib Hib,” meaning “Hee Hee.”
For the past four years, Vang has worked on producing “The Latehomecomer.”
“For so long … we’ve been working on this and it’s just been bits and pieces of trying to memorize, trying to block, get the feelings and the images, like, true to myself. And, now, it’s all piecing together,” Vang said. “Who would have ever thought that a Hmong woman would be published in the larger scheme of America?”
Yang’s 2005 book, “The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir” is described as a love-letter to the author’s grandmother and explores the family’s struggles during their journey from being refugees in war-torn Laos to adapting to life in the United States.
The story was revised for the stage by Literature to Life, a performance-based literacy program.
“I specifically want Hmong folks to come see it and see themselves in it. I know that it’s going to be one that resonates,” Vang said. “I want them to see themselves that they’re not invisible, we’re not erased, we exist and we’re doing great things.”
When asked about her future plans, Vang said she will resume her academic journey this fall by attending Wayne State University in Michigan to pursue a master’s degree in fine arts. Vang also shared that, in the future, she hopes to create more roles for Hmong actors and come back to Fresno to create a non-profit organization as a resource for underrepresented artists in the acting scene.
“I want to be able to make work that showcases the joys that we have, the life that we live and the perseverance that lives in all of us. That’s something I want to produce,” Vang told Fresnoland.
“I feel like that’s kind of why we need to see more people that look like us on the stage and open up the theater to more diversity,” Vang said. “It is an art form where you really can find your most authentic truth in that.”
Times and dates to see ‘The Latehomecomer’ performed by Jasmine Vang at LAByrinth Art Collective, located at 1470 N. Van Ness Ave.
- Friday, Mar 8, 2024 @ 7:00 – 8:00PM
- Saturday, Mar 9, 2024@ 5:00 – 6:00PM
Tickets to see the show may be purchased here. The Fresno Rogue Festival runs through Saturday, Mar. 9 in the Tower District.
