Melodrama in cinemascope format

A turquoise, violet and pink shimmering space that takes up the whole stage: the Saigon Restaurant, which unites the stories of two decades and two places: Saigon and Paris, in the 1950 and in the 1990s. Against a soundtrack of Vietnamese pop songs and French chansons, it’s not just time periods that overlap here, but also the paths of eleven people, some of whom are at home in France, some in Vietnam. Some of them aren’t even sure where their home is themselves anymore. In a restaurant in 1956, we meet a French soldier who is only unwillingly leaving the former colony of Indochina and promises his Vietnamese girlfriend heaven on earth so that she’ll follow him to Paris. A French officer’s wife is facing the impossible task of explaining the loss of her son to Marie-Antoinette, a Vietnamese woman. Then in 1996, the Vietnamese in exile are allowed to return home for the first time – but do they really still belong there? Caroline Guiela Nguyen, daughter of a Vietnamese immigrant to France, creates a heart-breaking play about moving personal stories and historical facts and about the feeling of really belonging somewhere else entirely.  

“With its tender, unique charm, the performance immediately created a buzz of excitement.” Le Monde, 10.7.2017

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