Morgan Maslow on ‘Vietgone,’ “You Don’t Have to go Crazy”

May 19, 2019May 19, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Morgan Maslow discusses “Vietgone” in this video review.

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Full review embedded in the YouTube link below.

“Vietgone” – Written by Qui Nguyen. Michelle Aguillon, Director. Presented by Company One at the BCA Plaza Theatre, 539 Tremont St., Boston through May 25.

Audience member, Morgan Maslow discusses “Vietgone” in this video review, stating that the actors and producers are “trying really hard to make it good” and “it’s hard to put yourself out there.”

While recognizing that this romantic comedy about two people who meet in a refugee camp is “a very personal story,” Maslow feels that the rap songs don’t “give you too much insight into what the characters are feeling.”

“There’s not a plethora of Asian stories,” Maslow elucidates. “You don’t have to go crazy. You don’t have to put rap in it. You don’t have to have this narrative device where it goes back and forth through time. You can tell a simple story. And because it’s personal and it’s unique, it’s going to stand out and it’s going to be important.”

Finding Your Way Home in Company One’s ‘Vietgone’

May 2, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Quentin Nguyen-Duy and Rob Chen in Company One’s ‘Vietgone’ – Photo by Paul Fox)

By Deanna Dement Myers

“Vietgone” – Written by Qui Nguyen. Michelle Aguillon, Director; Kadahj Bennett, Music Director; Misha Shields, Choreographer; Jessie Baxter, Dramaturg; Jasmine Brooks, Assistant Director; Jessica Scout Malone; Assistant Dramaturg & Intimacy Coach; Izmir Ickbal, Scenic & Projections Designer; Debra Kim Sivigny, Costume Designer; Jennifer Fok, Lighting Designer; Aubrey Dube, Sound Designer; Kelly Smith, Properties Designer; Nate DeMare, Technical Director; Jadira Figueroa, Assistant Stage Manager. Presented by Company One at the BCA Black Box Theater, 539 Tremont St., Boston in partnership with Pao Art Center through May 25.

“I thought everything would be super nice here in America. That’s sorta what they advertise.”

In a play that is definitely not about his parents, playwright Qui Nguyen introduces us to two people who met at Fort Chaffee, a refugee resettlement camp in Arkansas, much like his parents did in 1975. Over the next raucous 90 minutes, the audience joins a wild ride across America in pursuit of love, acceptance, and home.

The Fabulous, Furious World of “Wig Out”

May 7, 2018May 7, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

By Michele Markarian

Wig Out – Written by Tarell Alvin McCraney. Directed by Summer L. Williams. Presented by Company One Theatre, in collaboration with American Repertory Theater as part of the Oberon Presents Series, at Oberon, 2 Arrow St. Cambridge, MA through May 13.

There’s nothing worse than the feeling of world-weary, convinced that life at large has no more worlds to offer up, after the first flush of youth. For those convinced they’ve seen and done it all, and even for those who haven’t, “Wig Out” is an electrifying and eye-opening glimpse into the world of queer color and drag that as a cysgender white female, I knew little about. Written by Tarell Alvin McCraney, co-writer of the Oscar-winning film “Moonlight” and superbly directed by Summer L. Williams, “Wig Out” is not only a theatrical event, but an experience.