Review: VIETGONE at Studio Theatre is Anything but Typical

Studio Theatre is serving up a spectacle of a show that mashes satire and high emotion. VIETGONE, directed by Natsu Onoda Power, presents a truly diverse story with the potential to challenge entrenched ideas about the Vietnam War and the immigrant experience. Playwright Qui Nguyen's fresh voice bounces off the rafters and finds its fullest embodiment in the company's impressive and expressive physicality.

VIETGONE is an experience worth having.

Studio Theatre itself is an integral part of the whole experience. Once you recover from hiking the four flights of stairs (don't worry, there is also an elevator) you are immediately rewarded with Tony Cisek's delightfully inventive set. Place specific signs, tarps, and pulsating twinkle lights all triangulate at a raised platform populated by microphones and instruments. Qui writes for Marvel Studios, and the comic book aesthetics feel right at home in this rock and roll garage. As soon as the band takes the stage they never leave-- The Vietgoners Keith Butler, Jonathan Hawkins, and Jeff Song (Music Director) are key players in this raucous troop.

This rollicking, brash, sexy romp of a love story takes place in a seemingly less than sexy locale: A refugee camp in Arkansas after the fall of Saigon. Our ambitious playwright (played here by Jacob Yeh) goes to great pains to tell us that this is NOT the story of his parents- though if you've read the playbill you'll know that VIETGONE is the the story of his parents' 1975 refugee romance.

Though the play centers on the immigrant experience in the 1970s (with a spattering of flashbacks) these characters don't talk the way we might expect them to. The Vietnamese and American characters are constantly misunderstanding each other, but it is the Americans who get lost in translation- and to incredibly humorous effect.

Billed as "a refugee love story and action-packed road trip across America" VIETGONE brashly and unapologetically subverts traditional Asian stereotypes- instead of outrageous, insulting accents (a la Breakfast at Tiffany's) and meek personalities our playwright gives us a trash talking, sexually direct woman and a suave, confident man for our hero and heroine. Our lovers Quang and Tong, played magnificently by Marc De La Cruz and Regina Aquino talk with a confident swagger despite their being "strangers in a strange land," often breaking into song and rap (one can't help but hear echoes of Hamilton), and the play is all the better for it.

I had the great pleasure of sitting next to Regina Aquino's proud father. He (and her entire family) have seen her in everything. Having experienced some of Regina's work during my short time in DC, I can attest that her loyal fans are not biased. She is absolutely magnetic onstage. The entire company has undeniable chemistry. Eileen Rivera, Joe Ngo, and Jacob Yeh shine in comedic vignettes and hard hitting moments, and our leading man Marc De La Cruz is a force.

So many things work, and I find this piece so important, that I have a hard time nitpicking. That being said, Act 2 could use a little trimming. There are stretches of dialogue that could use some concision, and sometimes the sprawling timeline becomes disorienting. Small things that this exemplary cast and crew works with and pushes through.

If you're looking for an exciting, sexy, thought-provoking night at the theatre look no further than VIETGONE at Studio Theatre. It is anything but typical.

VIETGONE is playing at Studio Theatre's Stage 4 from April 25th-May 20th. Check out Studio Theatre's website for tickets. Tickets range from $20-$57.

Photo: Regina Aquino and Marc delaCruz in Vietgone. Photo: Teresa Wood.

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