Colonialism is Terrible, But Pho is Delicious
Hanoi, 1880s / Ho Chi Minh City, 1999 / Gentrifying Brooklyn, present day. A triptych about the ownership and authorship of food following the journey of Vietnamese noodle soup.
3rd/4th Readings
Playwrights Foundation, San Francisco, CA
July 22, 28 2018
Second Reading
Ma-Yi, New York NY
October 29, 2017
First Reading
Berkeley Rep, Berkeley CA
July 12, 2017
Director
Ken Savage
Director
Rachel Dart
Director
Mina Morita
Cast
2M / 2F
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This play was inspired by two Internet dust-ups around food. The first was when chef Tyler Akin cut a video for Bon Appetit titled "PSA: This is How You Should Be Eating Pho." That you can't find the video anymore speaks for itself. The second incident was when Dan Pashman of The Sporkful suggested you could improve bibimbap using a bundt pan. So I followed the rabbit hole down a discussion of food culture.
To those of you who would like to point out that Bánh mì sandwiches might be a more apt subject due to the obviousness of the baguette, rest assured I started with that but made the shift after consulting my Vietnamese sources.