Vietgone NYC Reviews and Tickets

"Nguyen and director May Adrales find such richly inventive and entertaining ways to tell the story of these two refugees that the play feels wiped clean of the clichés of both the 'immigrant experience' and 'the hell of war'...For all the pop-culture silliness, the playfulness with language, and the clever stagecraft, 'Vietgone' paints complex and credible portraits of the two main characters...'Vietgone' is comic and compassionate; overlong—and overdue."
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"Overtly rollicking and sneakily moving...Some of the writing is lazy, with Nguyen so comfortable in his ultra-vernacular style that he doesn’t challenge himself to create a more distinctive diction for each character...Adrales’s direction is sometimes more vivid than precise...But 'Vietgone' is a more serious work than it initially seems...He sneaks in warmth behind the silliness, solemnity alongside the kung fu, making the deliberately preposterous feel vibrantly real, even poignant."
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"Nguyen’s script adds confessional rap, fight sequences, and moments so real that the Vietnam we grew up with takes on a whole new shape. This is fantasy-fiction that tells a story of realism. The language is charming slang using humor laced with profanity just to keep things real...This is a talented and clever company...Nguyen’s 'Vietgone' is about loss while his characters use a brave determination to survive in a way that is hip, jarring and oh so watchable."
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"The cast members are appealing, but the acting is uneven and often unsubtle. The first-rate production benefits from an excellent scenic design by Tim Mackabee, greatly enhanced by Jared Mezzocchi’s projections...Director May Adrales skillfully holds it all together. It’s an unruly play that could use a slight trim, but its energy and inventiveness go a long way to make up for its shortcomings. I found it refreshing and worthwhile."
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"It is often wildly entertaining, and yet the play provokes thought about the plight of those who left Vietnam during the infamous war...It is mainly the humor that defines this take on the subject, with rap sequences, slapstick and jokes about sex...'Vietgone' director May Adrales accents its comically mischievous edge as well as the serious side. Some cutting might be wise and there are dull spots here and there. But deep feelings effectively burst forth."
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"The setting is the past but the vibe is totally contemporary...Stereotypes are constantly turned on their heads...And, layering real substance underneath all the hijinks, views of the 20-year-long war are similarly upended. The AARP-aged couples on both sides of me left at intermission but the two hours and 20 minutes whizzed by for me and I can't wait to see what Nguyen does next."
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"A sweet, rather straightforward story...It's the telling that's complicated, with Nguyen apparently employing every theatrical device he ever saw, thought of or heard about...There are comic-book fights, distracting projections and musical moments, including performances of (not very good) rap songs that are liberally sprinkled with the usual profanities...The problem with 'Vietgone' is that its focus is scattered, often seeming to slide from the story to the novelty of its telling."
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"Nguyen and Adrales tell the story in a thoroughly modern way, lavishly employing the hallmarks of pop culture. There is no real reason for this choice, it seems, other than drawing millennials into the theater and making the old folks feel hip. But this choice has a profound effect on the play...Nguyen had a story to tell. Why he chose to appropriate that story by telling it in terms that have little to do with the characters he presents is anyone’s guess."
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