Trieu Tran shares some thoughts on taking his autobiographical play from “page to stage.”
Uncle Ho to Uncle Sam is Trieu’s first solo play, written with co-author Robert Egan. They developed the piece in 2011 at the Ojai Playwrights Conference, where Robert is Artistic Director/Producer. Then they took it to Seattle where ACT/A Contemporary Theatre mounted the world premiere production in Fall 2012. It has gone on to play for Center Theatre Group at Los Angeles’ Kirk Douglas Theatre and at Shakespeare Orange County.
Click below for a look behind the scenes as they readied the play to for the premiere at ACT:
Trieu says, “The audiences taught us immensely, particularly in Seattle, where we premiered the play.”
“Robert and I would go out after each preview performance and have a glass of wine and read the audience response sheets. They give out these sheets at each preview with specific questions and we would be given them after each of our first ten previews prior to official opening.
“We discovered out of 400 people a night that huge numbers were writing to us. It was overwhelming, the response and impact the play was having on them. Second, we discovered they were having an issue with the end of the play where I perform a ritual of healing. We did not have it right yet. There was some exquisite balance between understanding and forgiveness; between looking back and moving forward; between my journey and the audience’s journey being linked. We found it as a result of the audience questions and restlessness. There were many ways the audience helped shape Robert’s and my perception of the finished work.”
For a look at “a moment from” the world premiere performance, click below:
Join us when Uncle Ho to Uncle Sam opens this season’s PRC2 stage August 26-30.
Click here or call 919.962.7529 for tickets or more information.