“You are about to see some strong Asian-American woman power up here,” said Mu Performing Arts’ new artistic director, Randy Reyes, as he introduced the Knight Arts grantee theater company’s season opener, “Kung Fu Zombies vs. Cannibals.”

He’s not kidding: the play is a marvel, packed with fluid fight sequences (hat-tip to choreographer Allen Malicsi for those ferocious, elegant moves) and deliciously high-camp horror. The zombie-decapitating action is set against a smart hip hop score, spun live on stage by DJ Kool Akiem. The whole shebang is hugely entertaining. But beneath the infectious beats and ass-kicking fun is a surprisingly resonant fable – an old-fashioned hero’s quest, with layers of social commentary about war and power and compassion in the wake of injustice. It’s also a thoughtful morality tale framed around Buddhism’s “five precepts,” asking what it means to be a good person when the world around you turns dark and there’s no one coming to save the day.

Pictured (L-R): Meghan Kreidler as Sika, Laura Anderson as Arahan. Photo by Michal Daniel

Rob Callahan, writing on the show for Vita.mn, aptly calls it “a stage play that does everything you used to be pretty sure live theater can’t do.” It shouldn’t work, but it does.

The story opens in Laos, in a post-apocalyptic landscape filled with monsters both undead and human. The cause of global catastrophe is murky but familiar to fans of the genre – something to do with solar flares and a subsequent irradiation of earth which somehow re-animates the dead and endows them with both insatiable hunger for human flesh and mad kung fu skills. You know, the usual.

Our tale centers on a formidable Minnesota born-and-raised Lao-American woman, Sika (played convincingly by Meghan Kreidler), who is making her way through the still-war-torn country of her parents’ birth to put their ashes to rest in the mountain village they once called home. She’s also a mixed martial arts expert, and those fighting skills come in handy as her path is frequently interrupted by the marauding undead.

Pictured (L-R): Maxwell Thao as thug, Ayden Her as Girl, Meghan Kreidler asSika. Photo: Michal Daniel

Early on in the story, after a particularly epic fight sequence, Sika discovers a mysterious youngster, called simply the Girl (played by the adorable, and nimble, Ayden Her). She’s far too young to be traveling alone, but there are dark hints she’s not quite the innocent victim she appears. The Girl says she hails from the very mountain country to which Sika is heading, and the two decide to travel together. The duo soon joins forces with a rag-tag band of Buddhists met along the way – two Americans, a soldier-turned-penitent and a thug in search of redemption, and a tough-but-tender Lao warrior-monk with a tragic past.

“Kung Fu Zombies vs. Cannibals” is a world-premiere for Mu Performing Arts; it’s also the debut production of a crackling new theater talent, spoken word artist-turned-playwright, Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay.

Pictured (L-R): Meghan Kreidler as Sika, Allen Malicsi as Old Man. Photo: Michal Daniel

Parents, if you’re wondering whether to take the kids, here’s the lowdown. I took my manga-and-kung fu-loving elementary schooler with me, and he loved it. But my young son has a high tolerance for monsters and low-gore action, and I don’t mind him seeing this sort of thing, as long as I’m around to answer his questions. Your own family’s preferences may well differ. Note that the stated age recommendation for the show is 14 and up  –  due to occasional salty language, and, well, the fact that there are zombies and cannibals and a lot of stylized violence that may be too intense for some children.

“Kung Fu Zombies vs. Cannibals” is a world-premiere production written by Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay, directed by Randy Reyes and presented by Mu Performing Arts. It’s on stage through October 27 at the Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Avenue South, Minneapolis. For specific show times, ticket details and additional information, visit:  www.muperformingarts.org/production/kung-fu-zombies-vs-cannibals.