The Metamorphosis of "Vietgone": From Vietnam to Arkansas to New York to Orange County

By Thuy Vo Dang, Linda Trinh Vo and Tram Le*

Maureen Sebastian and Raymond Lee in Vietgone.

From left: Thuy Vo Dang, Christina Woo, Steve MacLeod, Tram Le, Kelly Miller and Qui Nguyen during the playwright's first exploratory visit to the UCI libraries.

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. Qui, who hails from Brooklyn, NY, originally had tossed around the idea of writing a script about Vietnamese gangsters in Little Saigon. However, during his residency in the summer of 2013, SCR staff invited the three of us to meet with Qui and share the work we were doing in the local Vietnamese community.

He later visited the UC Irvine Libraries Southeast Asian Archive and was captivated by the photograph collection of Vietnamese refugees at Fort Chaffee, Ark., one of four military bases that served as a temporary processing center in 1975. These photographs made him reflect on the stories his parents told him growing up. Qui’s parents, along with thousands of other refugees, were both processed through Fort Chaffee after the fall of Saigon. He was inspired to write about how they met and fell in love—might we say lust—at first sight in this camp. Thus, Vietgone was born, a wickedly funny and poignant play that captures the personal journeys of a first generation Vietnamese American couple with nuance and a reimagining of the tale of refugee journeys, complete with hip hop notes woven throughout. Its tone is fresh and surprising.

The cast, playwright and director of Vietgone at the post-reading "talk back" with the audience at the Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association.

In November 2014, Vietgone’s director May Adrales and the actors presented a staged reading of the full script at the Vietnamese American Arts and Letters Association (VAALA) Center in Santa Ana to an enraptured community audience.

At the end of the reading, one first-generation Vietnamese American man stood up and exclaimed, “That’s my story!” because he also met his wife in a refugee processing center. In February 2015, Qui and two cast members performed an excerpted reading from the play, followed by a lively Q&A, in Linda’s Asian American Community class with 240 students. In a follow-up survey of the event, one student wrote, “I enjoyed the Vietgone reading because it gave me a new perspective on the Vietnam War. I have only heard the American side, but I have never heard what Vietnamese people actually thought about the war.” The event, funded by the new Illuminations: A Chancellor’s Arts & Culture Initiative, encouraged students to see the connections between the historical materials in the class and artistic storytelling and gave students, many who had never attended a play, a better appreciation for the arts. The common response from students was that they wished they could see a full stage production of the play.

At the front of the class, left-to-right: Raymond Lee, Qui Nguyen and Maureen Sebastian performing an excerpt reading of Vietgone in Prof. Linda Vo's Asian American Communities class.

Students shared their stories about their family’s refugee and immigrant journeys and were inspired to learn more. What’s powerful about plays like this is that it will stir conversations between generations where there is often silence, particularly about the past.

Qui, with his director, actors and production team, have re-visited the archive several times to continue their research journey.

Qui, the cast, and SCR staff members also visited the VIETNAMESE FOCUS: GENERATIONS OF STORIES exhibition, a partnership between OC Parks and UC Irvine, at the Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana to immerse themselves in the refugees’ life stories and their journey of resettlement. This interactive art and history exhibition presents snapshots of a dynamic and vibrant community, including photographs, documents, artifacts, original artwork and oral histories from the Vietnamese American Oral History Project (VAOHP), Orange County & Southeast Asian Archive Center and private collections.

Vietgone actors and creative team looking through the Fort Chaffee photographs in the UCI Libraries Special Collections reading room.

Included are a diverse range of stories of how ordinary people were thrown into extraordinary circumstances because of war and its aftermath and how they were forced to make incredibly difficult choices, stories that echo Qui’s parents’ journey. The premiere of Vietgone at a major playhouse marks a historic moment for the Vietnamese community. This is highlighted by the fact that the Vietgone script, signed by Qui, May and the cast, along with a flyer of the VAALA reading, is featured in the arts and culture display case in the exhibition.

Vietgone flyer and original script signed by Qui and cast on display at the VIETNAMESE FOCUS exhibition.

Qui’s parents’ story is unique and yet very similar to many of the hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese refugees coming to the U.S. However, aside from oral history archives such as VAOHP, so few stories from those who witnessed these experiences first hand are recorded. Instead, what most people read in history books and see in the media tends to be a narrow point of view, oftentimes from the American perspective that excludes Vietnamese voices who had to endure a civil war in their country and were forced to flee and rebuild their lives in America. They are not just victims of the war or history; plays like Vietgone show the humanity of the Vietnamese people.

Vietgone’s journey from script to stage has been decades in the making and reflects a remarkable moment for cultural production in Orange County. We look forward to its full run at South Coast Repertory, Oct. 4-25.

*About the Authors: Thuy Vo Dang, is the Archivist for the UCI Libraries Orange County & Southeast Asian Archive Center, Linda Trinh Vo is a professor in the Department of Asian American Studies and director of the Vietnamese American Oral History Project at UC Irvine and Tram Le is the associate director of the Vietnamese American Oral History Project at UC Irvine. Vo and Le are co-curators and co-directors of the VIETNAMESE FOCUS: GENERATIONS OF STORIES exhibition.

CrossRoads: Igniting Inspiration

Linda Vo, Julia Lee, CrossRoads playwright Lauren Yee, Literary Director Kimberly Colburn, Assistant Literary Director Andrew Knight at the OC & SEAA Center, UCI.

With nearly 1,000 square miles and more than 3 million strong, Orange County, Calif. is a unique area with a rich resource of cultures and stories ripe for the telling. It's a place that trumps numerous stereotypes perpetuated by shows like “The Real Housewives of Orange County.” As demographics shift and grow, so do the faces of the people who represent the county. Orange County is a place of multiple intersecting cultures and groups—with each one calling out to be heard.

Playwright Mona Mansour (center) during her August 2013 residency.

Thanks to a generous grant from the Time Warner Foundation, South Coast Repertory is answering that call with the CrossRoads initiative. The program commissions playwrights from all over the nation, but unlike a typical SCR commission, their process begins with the playwright undertaking a residency to explore the county’s diversity.

Playwrights first spend 10 days in Orange County, fully immersing themselves in the county's rich cultural, social and political life. Through their explorations, they discover diverse stories and personal connections, meeting with community organizations and individuals from all walks of life. They will then write plays either directly or indirectly informed by their residency experiences and follow their own artistic impulses.

When CrossRoads launched in 2013, SCR selected a playwright class of emerging and established names, including Luis Alfaro, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Carla Ching, Aditi Brennan Kapil, Qui Nguyen, Mona Mansour and Tanya Saracho.

In the spring of 2015, four playwrights’ works were workshopped and further developed at SCR and portions from those plays were presented to the public as staged readings. Since then, many of the plays realized through the initiative have gone on to additional staged readings, further development and are scheduled for upcoming productions at SCR and around the country.

Playwright Qui Nguyen (left) with the PPF 2015 cast of Vietgone.

Among the first group offerings were Nguyen’s Vietgone and Kapil’s Orange, which were presented at SCR’s 2015 Pacific Playwrights Festival. Vietgone also will open the 2015-16 Julianne Argyros season. Following the premiere, it will be produced at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2016.

In July 2015, Ching’s Nomad Hotel received development as a part of the prestigious National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. Mansour’s unseen continued development at New York Stage and Film in April 2015 and during a Studio Retreat at the Lark Play Development Center in June 2015. unseen was also featured on The Kilroys’ The List 2015—a list of the top un- and under-produced plays by female playwrights.

CrossRoads will continue to tap into Orange County’s varied stories through a generous renewal of the grant from the Time Warner Foundation. With this renewal, a new class of playwrights will join the fold and experience their own residencies within the area. The second round playwrights include Dipika Guha, Adam Gwon, Octavio Solis and Lauren Yee.

Playwright Octavio Solis with Josephine "Pepa" Chindemi-Dodge during his July 2015 residency.

“These are four writers who all are at different stages of their careers,” says Artistic Director Marc Masterson. “Octavio Solis has been working with SCR since the late 1980s, but will be able to explore the community like he never has before. He and Adam Gwon spent a great deal of time working on Cloudlands at SCR a few years ago, and we’re lucky to have them both back. Adam is going to be breaking the commissioning mold of straight plays by working on a chamber musical, and we’re excited to begin new relationships with Lauren Yee and Dipika Guha.”

CrossRoads is an exciting and personal way for playwrights to approach new works. As they explore the community, they discover unique stories and form connections with individuals. It has lead playwrights to surprising discoveries and lasting connections. It’s also leading SCR to new discoveries.

“It’s having an impact on how we think about our commissioning program and playwright residencies,” says Masterson. “We’re developing an exciting model for the future.”

Learn more about CrossRoads and the playwrights.