Vietgone 2016-17 SEASON. presents the Vietnam War from the … 4.6 out of 5 stars 668. Qui Nguyen is a playwright, screenwriter, and co-founder of the OBIE Award-winning Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company of NYC. Atung (Will Dao) sits in front of... Plus: Will the Police Commission finally pass reforms -- and will it matter? It also tends to sprawl, with the chronology becoming confusing. Even as the audience files in, we are already part of the play, or rather, the exhibition. First, I was delighted with—and grateful for—the opportunity to work with Natsu, again. FINAL PERFORMANCE WAS December 4th, 2016. She lose her fiancé. He writes with laughter, satire, anger and profanity.". 1-866-NEW-PLAY (639-7529) info@playscripts.com April 4, 2017 VIETGONE receives 3 Lucille Lortel noms including for Outstanding Play November 30, 2016 Episode 108 of SYFY'S INCORPORATED written by Qui Nguyen & Patrick Moss set to air January 18, 2017. ... 10 practice scripts for actors may be used for auditions, workshops, demo reel videos or scene work in drama class. Cesspool Phil M. Williams. Huong (Cindy Im, left) walks in on Quang (James Seol) and Tong (Jenelle Chu) in ‘Vietgone.’ Photo by Kevin Berne. The playwright claims in his opening speech that “this story is not about war, but about falling in love.” That assertion is reiterated later in the play when he tries to convince his father, Huang, now a septuagenarian, to talk to him about the war. ", "Vietgone rides a wave of profane irreverence, sprawling storytelling,spiky humor, bald stereotypes and in the end a searing personal testament that honors the people on whose soil the war was fought [...] Nguyen understands confidently that his story possesses an intrinsic weight and he doesn't need to preach. BWW Previews: HIP HOP, SEX COMEDY FAIRYTALE VIETGONE LAUNCHES NEW SEASON at American Stage, Broadway World CRITICS' PICK! The beautiful Tong rejects her many suitors and asserts she is the “sheer opposite of every Vietnamese woman on the planet”—she doesn’t want to be protected or taken care of, she wants to strike out on her own in her new country. Yet he continues to defend the US role in the war even though he knows that in this new country he will be subject to racism: “We get to America by any desperate means/Cause they say they’ll take the poor and the weak/But does that do for refugees that look like me/peeps reminding them of their enemy?”. Kindle Edition. A.C.T. ONSTAGE “You lost a brother, I lost my family. At his urging, she brings their mother Huong (the delightfully caustic Cindy Im), who is unabashedly vocal about her disgust with the camp’s food, the incomprehensible language, and most especially the GI who is smitten with her daughter. Vietgone 3.14 - 4.8, 2018. by Qui Nguyen. Time Out New York "An unlikely intermingling of family play, history play, sex farce, action flick, and cultural critique. This play explores the challenges people face in friendship when a risk of growing apart becomes a factor. The protagonist in Vietgone is a South Vietnam Air Force Captain who lands his helo there during the Evacuation. By the end, however, this riotous theatrical cartoon won me over with its simple honesty. Plus: MC Escher, Black art history, and are we living in a simulation? presents the Vietnam War from the point of view of the refugees who fled to America. Lives intersect in 1975 at the Ft. Chafee, Arkansas refugee camp. Qui Nguyen’s recent play, Vietgone, is the meet-cute story of his parents rapping, having a ton of casual sex, and eventually falling for each other in an Arkansas refugee camp in 1975. Christina Spiegel’s cartoons bring comic relief to our moment. As the play unfolds, the purpose of Nguyen’s linguistic gymnastics becomes clear: English-speaking audiences have to grapple with what it feels like not to understand the language that surrounds you in a strange place, and maybe share some deeper understanding of what it means to be a war refugee. But now in a new land, they just might find each other. When the Vietnamese characters are speaking to each other, it will be in familiar, contemporary language, even raps, that the audience can easily follow: “Whoa, there’s a lotta white people up in here?” When an American attempts Vietnamese, it will be awkward and grammatically incorrect: “Seeing you for first time was love in sight first.” And when the Americans speak English to the Vietnamese it is a jumble of common words sounding like total gibberish: “Nascar, botox, frickles.”. KEEP US GOING by supporting 48 Hills and independent, nonprofit journalism! It’s in that tension that we’ve seen a lot of new cultural productions grappling with race, identity, culture and history… asking questions about their place in this country, their place in the world.”. I can’t even count how many times I held my breath or clutched on to my seat. Several things drew me to Vietgone. That tragedy underscored the message of Vietgone, which, despite the actor/playwright’s on-stage denials, is a story about the deep consequences of war—just not the ones we thought we knew. It is overtly rollicking and sneakily moving. Flipping the script on a tragic war's fallout in... A.C.T.’s new “irreverent road trip comedy”, Mama (with Vicki Lawrence) comes a-callin’ at the Castro, The flaws in Stanford’s anti-rent-control study, Review: ‘Gloria’ reveals what lurks beneath office culture’s bright lights, Review: ‘Mimi’s Suitcase’ packs a lot in, but destination is cloudy. Using his uniquely infectious style The New York Times calls "culturally savvy comedy" -- and skipping back and forth from the dramatic evacuation of Saigon to the here and now -- playwright Qui Nguyen gets up-close-and-personal to tell the story that led to the creation of... Qui Nguyen. We’re now a week and a half into busy daytime rehearsals of Vietgone, Qui Nguyen’s 2015 dramatization of his parents meeting as refugees from Vietnam in 1975. But now in a new land, they just might find each other. South Coast Repertory’s world premiere of Vietgone by playwright Qui Nguyen is a highly anticipated event for us, as we’ve had the unique experience of watching this play’s metamorphosis since its inception. Contact. ", "An unlikely intermingling of family play, history play, sex farce, action flick, and cultural critique. "Vietgone careens wildly, threatening whiplash to heighten our amusement. LA Drama Critics Circle Ted Schmitt Award (2016). Best of the Bay Vietgone playwright Qui Nguyen: And now, for someone completely different. Her mother Huong resents—after burying two husbands, birthing eight children, and surviving two wars—having to learn English, and thinks the Americans should learn Vietnamese. In the award-winning Vietgone (2015 world premiere at SCR), playwright Qui Nguyen recounted his parents’ hot and hilarious courtship in a Vietnamese refugee camp in 1975. South Coast Repertory’s world premiere of Vietgone by playwright Qui Nguyen is a highly anticipated event for us, as we’ve had the unique experience of watching this play’s metamorphosis since its inception. Bay Guardian ArchivesShop Qui Nguyen's exuberant comedy at A.C.T. “Vietgone” contains a sprinkling of such preachiness. Tropes galore come out to play — ninjas, hippie stoners, rednecks. 48hills.org is the official publication of the non-profit San Francisco Progressive Media Center. Two hippies (Cindy Im and Jomar Tagatac) smoke a joint in ‘Vietgone.’ Photo by Kevin Berne. Scars of My Guardian Angel: An Epic Science Fiction & … You lost a brother, I lost my whole country… I lost everything I had.”. Oh, also kick-ass fights.” – Time Out New York, Read More “An unlikely intermingling of family play, history play, sex farce, action flick, and cultural critique. An all-American love story about two very new Americans. Free for ticket holders to the performance. 4.5 out of 5 stars 5. You bet your latkes. In the play, although not in real life, he has a conversation with the Captain. She lost her fiancé. We witness the fall of Saigon, the chaotic departure of many Vietnamese on helicopters and aircraft carriers, and their arrival in the bleak resettlement camp. It's 1975. Become a member. VIETGONE Until they do, she delights in voicing her obscenity-laced opinions in front of Americans who don’t understand a word of her insults and think of her as a sweet old lady. Nguyen’s skillful play with language is nothing short of brilliant. A modern twist on the All-American love story, Qui Nguyen’s (She Kills Monsters) new play Vietgone pulses with contemporary energy. For the next chapter in the family's story, Poor Yella Rednecks , it's six years later and Tong and Quang are building new lives in a foreign land called rural Arkansas. Malik Washington could have faced a return to prison, but at the urging of a federal judge any action has been postponed. At this Sunday Spotlight event, we will be joined by a diverse panel of historians, activists and artists to discuss varying perspectives on this contentious time in history when the country—and the world—was undergoing great change. Quang, a helicopter pilot trained at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, commanded a unit for the South Vietnam Air Force for eight years. "Vietgone careens wildly, threatening whiplash to heighten our amusement. Cart, Become a Member Huang, speaking in broken heavily accented English to his American-born son, only wants to share his memories of his child’s babyhood and teenage years. To her regret, her younger brother Khue (Stephen Hu, in one of his many roles) will not join her because he won’t leave the love of his life. 48hills is proud to host the SF Bay Guardian Best of the Bay 2019! “I’m no Juliet waiting on no balcony,” she raps, “I can save my own kingdom, I’m a badass bitch!”. But that’s how Nguyen has portrayed it in Vietgone, at Manhattan Theatre Club, as an unlikely intermingling of family play, history play, sex farce, action flick, and cultural critique. The scenes go back and forth in rapid-fire sequence from Vietnam to America, aided by black and white projections of the war. "A raucous comedy by Qui Nguyen that strafes just about every subject it tackles and every character it presents [...] Mr. Nguyen's fresh and impish voice rarely lets up as he thumbs his nose at our expectations. Saigon has fallen. Oh, also kick-ass fights." In the opening scene, an actor representing the playwright (Tagatac) explains how the dialogue will be presented. “Vietgone” opened to glowing notices from critics across the country as the play moved from Costa Mesa to MTC, with additional productions at Seattle Rep and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. One of the most eviscerating raps comes from Tong in the second act. Review: Hanukkah with the Klezmatics? What drew you to Vietgone? ", CRITIC'S PICK! Their stadium workers are suffering. An all-American love story about two very new Americans. Through April 22 The Asian country’s military overthrew its government over baseless claims of voter fraud. Ask questions about the play, the characters, and the process, and respond to the story and ideas aroused by the production. ", "Vietgone makes you believe that epic tales of heroism and loss exist all around us in this nation of immigrants. 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