Posted on our AFC Community news email list :<\/p>\n
Hi, we\u2019re excited to announce the opening of the play \u201cTrial By
\nWater\u201d, co-produced by dueEast Theatre Company (a 501c3 organization)
\nand A-Squared Theater Workshop.<\/p>\n
The full press release is below. Group sales are only $10\/ticket for
\ngroups of 10 or more. Please consider bringing your Asian organization
\nto the play. Show your support for local Asian American theater and,
\nmore importantly, for this compelling story of the Vietnamese refugee
\nexperience.<\/p>\n
The reservation hotline is 773-353-5979 and the show is at EP Theater,
\n1820 S. Halsted Street in Chicago.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a link: www.myspace.com\/ASquaredTheaterWorkshop<\/a><\/p>\n Thanks, everyone!<\/p>\n For Immediate Release Who: dueEast Theatre Company in conjunction with A-Squared Theater <\/p>\n What: On May 22, 1988, 110 Vietnamese crowded onto a small boat to A 10 year old boy who was on the boat is Mr. Nguyen\u2019s cousin. The Originally produced by Ma-Yi Theatre in March 2006, NYC, \u201cTrial By Where: EP Theater, 1820 S. Halsted Street, Chicago, IL, 312-850-4299. When: Opening night Saturday, October 27th at 8:00 PM. The play runs Why: Director Allen Hope Sermonia of dueEast Theatre Company says that \u201cTrial by Water\u201d Related URL\u2019s: Posted on our AFC Community news email list : Hi, we\u2019re excited to announce the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asian-news","category-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/afchicago.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/afchicago.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/afchicago.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afchicago.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afchicago.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/afchicago.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/afchicago.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afchicago.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afchicago.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nContact: Mia Park, 773-972-6745, Mia@MiaPark.com<\/a>
\nPHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST<\/p>\n
\nWorkshop presents the Midwest debut of the play, \u201cTrial by Water\u201d by
\nQui Nguyen. The 501c3 organization dueEast Theatre Company explores
\nthe Asian American\/Pacific Island experience through theatre,
\ndynamically brings those stories to the general theatre-going public,
\nand gives APIA theatre artists opportunities in the arts. A-Squared
\nTheater Workshop is a collective who creates an artistic environment
\nof risk taking and growth for Asian American theatre artists. This
\nyear, A-Squared Theater Workshop performed several staged readings of
\nplays written by or about Asians and Asian Americans. \u201cTrial By Water\u201d
\nis their debut stage production. The play features an exciting cast of
\nlocal actors. Steve Nguyen recently graduated from the theater
\ndepartment at Roosevelt University. Giau Truong is an acting teacher
\nwho left Vietnam as a boat person and refugee. Recently on stage in
\nChicago, Mia Park played a robot in \u201cThe Intelligent Design of Jenny
\nChow\u201d and Cary Shoda played a boat captain in \u201cCamino Real\u201d. Marissa
\nLichwick from New York and Jason Buhalis from South Carolina make
\ntheir Chicago stage debuts in \u201cTrial By Water\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nescape their country. The first day at sea, they met a vicious storm.
\nWhen the storm passed, the engine could not be restarted. They began
\nto drift. Instead of floating back to Vietnam as everyone had hoped,
\nthe waves carried them further out to sea. The expected weeklong
\nvoyage stretched into 38 days. Ten days into the trip people began
\ndying of thirst and hunger. Murder and cannibalism took over. When
\nFilipino fishermen came to the rescue, there were 52 survivors.<\/p>\n
\nauthor has dedicated the play to him, their families and \u201call the
\nVietnamese Boat People.\u201d The playwright reports that after his cousin
\nreached the United States, he told Mr. Nguyen, \u201cI think my soul is
\ndead.\u201d The survivor was 10; Mr. Nguyen was 12. Based on these events,
\nQui Nguyen\u2019s play \u201cTrial by Water\u201d chronicles the voyage of two young
\nbrothers, Huy and Hung, from Vietnam to the Philippines in order to
\nstart new lives. As the engine on their boat breaks, their voyage
\nbecomes an Odyssey forcing each brother to examine their morality as
\nthey face peril of nightmarish proportions.<\/p>\n
\nWater\u201d was lauded by critics. \u201cIt is interesting to see how facts and
\nfiction combine, for Mr. Nguyen wants to talk not only about the
\ndescent into savagery aboard the boat but also about how to live a
\nhumane and moral life in a world in which events would often dictate
\notherwise.: – New York Times. \u201cBeneath the shrieks and fake blood,
\nNguyen\u2019s play asks an absorbing question no 15-year-old should have to
\nanswer: What does it profit you to gain the whole world if you lose
\nyour soul?\u201d – Village Voice.<\/p>\n
\nEP Theater seats 50 and is located in the artsy Pilsen neighborhood on
\nChicago\u2019s near south side. Both the theater entrance and parking are
\nlocated in the back of the building. CTA: Redline Cermak\/Chinatown
\nstop to #18 bus West; Orange Line Halsted stop to # 8 bus North; Blue
\nLine UIC\/Halsted stop to #8 South; #168 bus. Metra: BNSF Railway
\nHalsted stop. Driving: 90\/94 East to 18th Street exit. At 18th Street,
\nturn east. At Halsted turn south. EP Theater is on the east side of
\nHalsted.<\/p>\n
\nFridays and Saturdays at 8:00PM and Sundays at 7:00PM through November
\n18, 2007. Tickets are $15 at the theater box office or by calling the
\nreservation hotline at 773-353-5979. $10 tickets available for groups
\nof 10 or more.<\/p>\n
\n\u201c\u2018Trial By Water\u2019 is a compelling play because it contains the
\nuniversal themes of survival and personal morality. \u2018Trial by Water\u2019
\nis semi-biographical of Vietnamese boat persons after the Vietnam War.
\nThough the American theatrical canon has several plays about Vietnam
\nvets dealing with the aftermath of war, plays regarding the Vietnamese
\nexperience to become American are a rarity. `Trial By Water\u2019 is
\nwritten by an Asian American author performed by Asian Americans. We
\nneed to tell our stories to ourselves as much as we need to tell
\nothers. We want to reflect what\u2019s actually happening in our world. In
\naddition, we\u2019re discovering our own artistic and cultural voices
\nthrough the rehearsal and production process of `Trial By Water\u2019. As a
\nside note, Nguyen\u2019s `Trial by Water\u2019 is the first in a trilogy of
\nplays to chronicle the Vietnamese American experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nA-Squared Theater Workshop: www.myspace.com\/ASquaredTheaterWorkshop<\/a>
\nPlaywright: Qui Nguyen, www.en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Qui_Nguyen<\/a>
\nVenue: EP THEATER, www.eptheater.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"