Text graphic with the words "The Words of Ants" and "2026 Alliance/Kendeda Week" on a gradient background, decorated with simple laurel branches.

Alliance/Kendeda Week: The Words of Ants

6:00 pm Free – RSVP Requested

The Words of Ants

By Xiaoyan Kang, University of Iowa
Directed by Avital Shira
Tuesday, MAR 17 // 6:00 PM
Rehearsal Hall A – Memorial Arts Building, 3rd Floor

Alliance Theatre presents The Words of Ants, one of four free, staged readings during the 2026 Alliance/Kendeda Week.

The visit of an uninvited woman changes Yan’s life forever. As the last natural inheritor, Yan is pulled into a journey to preserve an almost extinct language—but at what cost?

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A woman in a sleeveless, light pink patterned top stands in front of a white perforated metal background, smiling at the camera during Alliance/Kendeda Week: The Words of Ants.

Born and raised in China, Xiaoyan Kang started to write plays in English while studying under Philip Gotanda at Berkeley. Her plays include The Words of Ants (Playwrights Realm Scratchpad Series, Great Plains Theatre Commons New Play Festival, Jane Chambers Award runner-up), The Obituary (Sewanee Writers’ Conference Horton Foote Scholarship, KCACTF V Julie Jensen Playwriting Award honorable mention), and Bound(BBC International Radio Playwriting Competition Regional Winner, O’Neil Semifinalist, KCACTF V Paul Stephen Lim Playwriting Award). Some of her short plays were developed at 24 Hour Plays: Nationals and KCACTF V. Xiaoyan is finishing her MFA at the Iowa Playwrights Workshop.

Venue

  • Rehearsal Hall A

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Venue