Aurora Theatre has announced that playwright Dustin Chinn’s Colonialism is Terrible, But Pho is Delicious will open its 31st season.
Opening night for the iconic Berkeley-based playhouse is scheduled for Thursday, November 10, 2022.
Oanh Nguyen directs this world premiere. And the cast includes Anthony Doan, Nicole Tung, Elissa Beth Stebbins and Joseph Patrick O’Mall.
Per the Aurora web site description about the play:
Taking its inspiration from two viral incidents around cultural appropriation and food [Chef Tyler Akin’s how-to video for Bon Appetit, “PSA: This is How You Should Be Eating Pho,” and Dan Pashman of The Sporkful’s suggestion that you could improve bibimbap using a bundt pan], Dustin Chinn says he “followed the rabbit hole” and wrote “a triptych about the ownership and authorship of food following the journey of Vietnamese noodle soup.” This biting comedy spans centuries, continents, and cultures in its three-part vignette structure. Beginning in 1880s Hanoi, the capital city of French Indochina, where a Vietnamese cook finds herself in the kitchen of aristocratic French settlers. Then in 1999, a century later, in Vietnam, where American diners get their first taste of the local cuisine. Then finally, in present-day, gentrifying Brooklyn, where the simmering argument around culture, ownership, and authenticity comes to a roaring boil.
Audiences are invited to participate in post show discussions on the following dates:
- Friday, November 11
- Tuesday, November 15
- Wednesday, November 23
- Thursday, December 1
The production is supported by the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award.