VIETGONE, 2024
Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park Playwright Qui Nguyen Director Joanie Schultz Associate Director cara hinh Scenic Design & Screen Titles Chelsea M. Warren Costume Design Jessica Wegener Shay Lighting Design Jennifer Fok Original Music & Sound Design Shane Rettig Production Photography Mikka Schaffner
OVERVIEW: Our design credo is fast, fun, and small, allowing the play to move quickly, playfully and to fit all the furniture and props into the space. The design features an expansive back wall of wood slats, referencing Fort Chaffee cabins and a 70s color pallette. A textured sky box with surrounding LED light enables an expansive cross country motorcycle experience. Neon-tube racer lights extend from the back wall out into the audience. The back wall has a pair of double-swing doors with a center garage-style door. Four flat-screens hang in the space, sharing location and time shifts. The last scene of the production takes place in 2015, with the playwright interviewing his father; the set transforms into a realistic dining room, with unfurled rug and descending dining room walls full of photographs of the playwright’s and cast’s families. The play investigates the impact of the Vietnam War on immigrant refugees in America through the lens of a spectacular theatrical vocabulary of rap solos, rom-com montages, nightmare sequences and ninja battles.
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