Love, Laughs, and Ninja Fights in Seattle Rep's VIETGONE

Seattle Repertory Theatre presents Vietgone, the highly anticipated new play, produced in association with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, from up-and-coming playwright Qui Nguyen (Vampire Cowboys). Vietgone loosely chronicles Nguyen's parent's journey from Vietnam to American in 1975, with a quirky approach Nguyen describes as "a sex comedy about my parents." With direction by May Adrales, who has been with the show since its inception, Vietgone will run December 2, 2016-January 1, 2017 (opening night is December 7, 2016) in the Leo K. Theatre. Tickets are on sale now through the Seattle Rep Box Office at 206.443.2222and online at seattlerep.org.

With an electric combination of humor, sexuality, saltiness, and tenderness, as well as added ninja fights for good measure, Vietgone traces two young Vietnamese immigrants as they flee war-torn Saigon to a relocation camp in Arkansas to pursue their dreams. As the Los Angeles Times enthused about the play's premiere at South Coast Repertory in 2015, "...Nguyen's antic manner conveys the extent of his characters' losses, and their brave determination to survive them, more piercingly than a more sentimentally somber work would."

"Provocative, funny, and surprisingly poignant, Qui Nguyen has cultivated a style that is all his own," said Artistic Director Braden Abraham. "We're excited to introduce this extraordinary artist to Seattle audiences." Playwright Nguyen is the co-founder of Vampire Cowboys, an OBIE Award-winning "geek theatre" company that creates and produces new works of theatre based in action/adventure and dark comedy with a comic-book aesthetic. The company actively pursues the blending of different genres with varied theatrical styles to create an eclectic structure to tell its stories. The cast of Vietgone features James Ryen as Quang; Jeena Yi as Tong; Will Dao as Asian Guy, American Guy, Nhan, Khue and others; Amy Kim Waschke as Thu, Huong, Asian Girl, American Girl, and others; and Moses Villarama as Playwright, Giai, Bobby, and others.

The creative team includes May Adrales (Director); Sara Ryung Clement (Costume Designer); Seth Reiser (Lighting Designer); Shane Rettig (Sound Designer/Composer); ; David Carey (Dialect Coach); Shawn Duan (Video Designer); Lydia G. Garcia (OSF Dramaturg); Claudia Alick (Hip Hop Coach); Rebecca Rowlett (Production Assistant); Michael B. Paul (Stage Manager).

About Qui Nguyen (Playwright)

Qui Nguyenis a co-founder of the OBIE-winning Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company in NYC. His plays include Vietgone (2016 Steinberg Award); She Kills Monsters (2014 AATE Distinguished Play Award); Soul Samurai (2009 GLAAD Media Award nomination); and the critically acclaimed Vampire Cowboys productions of The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G, Begets - Fall of a High School Ronin, Six Rounds of Vengeance, Alice in Slasherland, Fight Girl Battle World, Men of Steel, and Living Dead in Denmark. Recent awards include a 2016 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing on a Pre-School Animated Program and a 2015 New York Community Trust Helen Merrill Playwriting Award. He's a member of the WGA, The Dramatists Guild, The Playwrights Center, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Ma-Yi Writers Lab, and is an alumni of New Dramatists and Youngblood. For television, he's written for PBS's "Peg+Cat" and SYFY's "Incorporated." He's currently a screenwriter for Marvel Studios. www.quinguyen.com.

About May Adrales (Director)

New York: Vietgone (Manhattan Theatre Club/ South Coast Rep);J.C. Lee's Luce (LCT3); David Henry Hwang's The Dance and the Railroad (Signature Theatre, Wuzhen International Theatre Festival); The Bereaved (Partial Comfort Productions); Tommy Smith's The Wife (Access Theatre). Regional: Katori Hall's Whaddabloodclot!!! (Williamstown Theatre Festival); In This House (Two River Theatre Company); A. Rey Pamatmat's Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them (Actors Theatre of Louisville); after all the terrible things I do, and Katori Hall's The Mountaintop (Milwaukee Repertory Theater); Bradshaw's Mary (Goodman Theatre); Richard Dresser's Trouble Cometh (San Francisco Playhouse). Other credits: Associate Artist at Milwaukee Repertory Theater; former Director of On-Site Programs at the Lark Play Development Center; Artistic Associate at The Public Theater. Awards: Drama League Directing Fellow; Women's Project Lab Director; Soho Rep Writers/Directors Lab; New York Theatre Workshop directing fellow; recipient of the TCG New Generations Grant; Denham Fellowship; Paul Green Directing Award. Teaching: Faculty at the Yale School of Drama; directed and taught at New York University; American Repertory Theater, Harvard; Bard College; Juilliard School; American Conservatory Theater; Fordham University.

Website: bit.ly/VietgoneREP

Tickets: Start at $17

Box Office: (206) 443-2222

Opening Night: Wednesday, December 7, 2016 (Doors at 6:30 p.m., Show at 7:30 p.m.)

For ticket reservations, call the Seattle Repertory Theatre Box Office at 206.443.2222 or toll-free at 877.900.9285, or go online at seattlerep.org.

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