Vietgone NYC Reviews and Tickets

"Nguyen is clearly a playwright with an inventive mind, and while 'Vietgone' has many pleasures—including jazzy comic performances from an excellent cast, under May Adrales’ direction—it suffers from a lack of discipline...The flippant tone of 'Vietgone' does sometimes pall...The play ends with an immensely moving scene...The laughter subsides; the play’s flaws recede; and we are left with a resonantly ambiguous picture of the manner in which wars have an indelible impact on individual lives."
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"The freshest, most exuberantly youthful piece I’ve seen at MTC in ages...Adrales’ high-octane staging moves so swiftly and surely, you may not initially appreciate the buckets of stagecraft she and Nguyen throw at us scene after scene...It's the immigrant narrative, but told with disarming frankness and humor—plus a roadside throwdown involving rednecks and ninjas. I cannot emphasize enough what a versatile and lovable cast this is."
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"Part playful, part deadly serious, Qui Nguyen takes aim at both Baby Boomers and Millennials alike in his innovative new work and hits both targets...Nguyen has structured the piece very cleverly, and has given every audience demographic a sympathetic way into the story, ably assisted by his creative team...The play challenges the political views we’ve clung to for decades...He might make us think, but the thought is delivered or followed with a laugh, and that feeling of connection."
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"Qui Nguyen’s ode to his parents' history takes an unruly approach to a how-I-met-your-mother tale...Theatricality abounds: the fourth wall falls, Saigon falls too, cartoony ninjas kick into action, rap songs underscore everything. Except for the simplistic songs that stop the play in its tracks, it clicks."
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"An original, affectionate and often funny tribute to the playwright’s parents...The love story develops along the usual lines, although it’s evident that neither the playwright nor his director want to be considered conventional. One drawback are the song, set to original music, but still obdurately ordinary. The lyrics only repeat things we already know from the dialogue...Whatever re-writes Nguyen might have in mind for this play, he’d be wise to start by tossing out the tunes."
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"The playwright and director May Adrales have collaborated to deliver a wildly fun, imaginative production. Not all of it works, and the play itself could benefit from some trimming. But individual elements are terrific, such as the Vietnamese characters speaking in flawless English while the Americans talk with an exaggerated, ungrammatical drawl...In the terrific ensemble, Lee and Ikeda display sizzling chemistry and formidable comic chops."
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"Beautifully conveyed through director May Adrales' unapologetically theatrical staging, 'Vietgone' makes you believe that epic tales of heroism and loss exist all around us in this nation of immigrants...The personal nature of the play and a structural refinement in Nguyen's writing results in an emotional resonance unprecedented in his work...Nguyen's clear-eyed recognition of the realities of war is rare, refreshing, and definitely speaks to a dramatist who has matured…but not too much."
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"In its admirable insistence on overturning the usual pieties and insisting that the Vietnamese refugees who populate the play are not helpless victims in a racist America, the play can sometimes be sophomoric, even grating. Then again, when the author's voice is this fresh and funny, how can one complain too much?...Under Adrales' fast-paced, often buoyant direction, the cast proves to be excellent company...'Vietgone' has become surprisingly moving, its many excesses notwithstanding."
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