Speaking of Asian American theatre, Hyphen is proudly sponsoring (along with TimeOutChicago) the presentation of “Trial by Water" by Qui Nguyen in Chicago. This is for you, Chicago! dueEast Theatre Company in conjunction with A-Squared Theater Workshop is presenting the Midwest debut of this play, and we're all very excited about it here at Hyphen.
The play is about an event that took place on May 22, 1988. 110 Vietnamese crowded onto a small boat to escape their country. The first day at sea, they met a vicious storm. When the storm passed, the engine could not be restarted. They began to drift. Instead of floating back to Vietnam as everyone had hoped, the waves carried them further out to sea. The expected weeklong voyage stretched into 38 days. Ten days into the trip people began dying of thirst and hunger. Murder and cannibalism took over. When Filipino fishermen came to the rescue, there were 52 survivors.
A 10 year old boy who was on the boat is Mr. Nguyen's cousin. The playwright reports that after his cousin reached the United States, he told Mr. Nguyen, "I think my soul is dead." The survivor was 10; Mr. Nguyen was 12. Based on these events, Qui Nguyen's play "Trial by Water" chronicles the voyage of two young brothers, Huy and Hung, from Vietnam to the Philippines in order to start new lives. As the engine on their boat breaks, their voyage becomes an Odyssey forcing each brother to examine their morality as they face peril of nightmarish proportions.
Bloody, shall we say?
LOCATION: EP Theater, 1820 S. Halsted Street, Chicago, IL, 312-850-4299.
DATE: The play runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 PM and Sundays at 7:00 PM through November 18, 2007.
PRICE: Tickets are $15 at the theater box office or by calling the reservation hotline at 773-353-5979. Group tickets are $10 each for ten or more patrons.
Nguyen's ‘Trial by Water’ is the first in a trilogy of plays to chronicle the Vietnamese American experience.”
About dueEast Theatre Company:
The 501(c)3 organization dueEast Theatre Company explores the Asian American/Pacific Island experience through theatre, dynamically brings those stories to the general theatre-going public, and gives APIA theatre artists opportunities in the arts.
About A-Squared Theatre Workshop:
A-Squared Theater Workshop is a collective who creates an artistic environment of risk taking and growth for Asian American theatre artists. This year, A-Squared Theater Workshop performed several staged readings of plays written by or about Asians and Asian Americans. “Trial By Water” is their debut stage production.
For more information, check out the following links:
A-Squared Theater Workshop
Playwright Qui Nguyen
Venue, EP THEATER
Support Asian American Theatre! Don't miss this play!
Posted by lisalee at November 2, 2007 2:36 PM
5 Comments
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I was trying to figure out what looked off to me about that promo image. Besides the strange drip pattern of the blood, his arm is just way too buff. No way any of those 110 Viet refugees scrambled onto that boat (much less off of it) with that much meat on their forearms. I would've placed an ad for a scrawnier model.
Oh my god, I got dragged to see this play by my girlfriend. She was like "Khoa, you're Vietnamese, let's go see this play about being Vietnamese". To say the least, I was not in the mood to see it or enjoy it. Boy, was I wrong! This play is awesome. It grabbed me and the audience immediately with its humor, its humanity, and its writing. Looking from the poster, it looks like a play that's going to be completely serious, but there's parts in this show that had me laughing harder than any comedy I've seen onstage. And then when the play goes dark, oh man, it's intense! It actually had me thinking about it for a week later and, ultimately, I feel changed from it. So I have to thank my girl, the producers, the director, writer, and actors for turning my opinion around. This was perhaps one of the most important and influential nights of theatre (or film or television or entertainment) I've ever seen. Thank you for producing this play. I hope it goes on to positively affect many more lives. It's the best.
Wow, thanks for posting this Lisa! This play does sound amazing, and the story of war and refuge resonate so well right now. This is exactly what I was talking about when I questioned the revival of The Joy Luck Club ...
if i were in chicago, i would've probably seen this play 3 times by now. not only is the story itself important, but just asian american theatre/performing arts in general is so hard to come by. issues of race, representation, and ownership of "space" are just a few things that come into question when watching live performances that are not asian, but asian american. break a leg cast and seriously, if you're in chicago, don't miss it! i'd give anything to trade places with you right now!
I was so happy to finally see a production that represented Asian Americans in a true and honest light. Most productions you see about Asian people are exoticized and exaggerated in such a stereotypical way. This show is honest and truthful. I was moved and affected by this production. Steven Nguyen blew me away in the lead role of Hung and was supported by an outstanding cast. Mr. Sermonia has brought something so special to Chicago. It should not be missed. I look forward to seeing more productions from dueEast!