Leaving Vietnam London Reviews and Tickets

75%

(1 Rating)

Positive

100%

Mixed

Negative

Members say

Absorbing, Gifted storyteller!

About the Show

A 1-act play about the lived experiences of a war veteran & how someone can get swept up in radical ideology.

Jimmy - a decorated veteran of the Vietnam war - works alone in his garage tending to classic American cars while trying to move past his experiences during the war. He is energized for the first time in years when he hears the then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s call to "Make America Great Again". His new-found fervor for politics drives a wedge between him and his wife, but a chance visit from the son of a fallen comrade makes him doubt his convictions.

Richard Vergette's play explores how those who feel disillusioned and excluded can be seduced into supporting populist politicians.

Show-Score Member Reviews (1)

Absorbing, Gifted storyteller!

See it if Jimmy navigates his truths of servicemen & civilians whose lives were forever altered by the atrocities of war.

Don't see it if American war history is not your preferred choice of theatre. Contains some offensive language.

Critic Reviews (3)

"For all the craft evident in its construction and delivery, we're left with a familiar American tale with neither its other, Asian, side fully explored nor its relevance to the UK's fracturing social and political environment drawn explicitly. "
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"There are no easy answers offered, but the piece convincingly articulates the justified anger of working-class people who feel locked out from the prosperity promised by unrestrained capitalism, looked down on by mainstream politicians, or betrayed by callous governments that squander their soldiers’ lives in short-sighted, unwinnable conflicts. "
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“Vergette’s script is insightful and legitimately thoughtful, always exploring its central character as a complete human being rather than an arbiter of what is either the right choice or the wrong one.”
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Trailer

Creative team