SENG’S HAIR SALON Comes to InterAct Theatre Company Next Month

When a mysterious and fatal epidemic begins haunting a neighborhood salon in South Philadelphia, three generations of a Lao family are forced to confront what care really means. As their beloved matriarch's health hangs in the balance, old wounds and new political realities collide in a gripping new work from acclaimed playwright Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay.

Set inside a family-owned Philadelphia salon that has served as a community cornerstone for decades, this play centers Lao, Vietnamese, and Cambodian characters navigating a health crisis and rapidly shifting cultural and political landscape. As national rhetoric intensifies and local stakes rise, the family wrestles with questions of visibility, advocacy, and generational responsibility.

"I spent one morning with the Sananikone family at the salon, observing their flow while making small talk,” says playwright Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay. “I tried picturing the aunties who've gotten perms in the chair I was in, and loved that the salon felt and looked like a time capsule. When we got past the small talk, I learned that through 4 decades, the Sananikones were themselves community anchors who stewarded a salon that's been a third place for their neighborhood. I saw how much their clients loved them and how much they cherished their clients. They are the heart of this play. I also tried to imagine how the salon could also be a quiet witness to social change through the years. Sometimes, when we discuss activism, we forget about the invisible labor, the quieter ways of taking care of our community. That's important, too. Just because actions and thoughts are quiet, it doesn't mean they can't create waves." 

Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay (hear it) is a nationally recognized Lao American poet, essayist, and playwright whose work amplifies refugee voices through poetry, theater, and experimental cultural production. Her plays have been presented by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, Theater Mu, Theater Unbound, and Mixed Blood Theatre.

This piece was commissioned as part of InterAct's ongoing project: The Philly Cycle, and was developed in partnership with Laos in the House, VietLead, and the Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia.