Fortunate Daughter
nytheatre.com q&a preview by Thao P. Nguyen
July 26, 2012
What is your job on this show?
Writer and performer.
Where were you born? Where were you raised? Where did you go to school?
Conceived in Vietnam. Born in Thailand. Raised in California. Undergrad-ed at Brown University. Grad-ed at the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. Living in San Francisco. Stoked to be in NYC this summer!
Why did you want to be part of FringeNYC?
I'm so excited to be a part of FringeNYC this year! My goal is to have fun, laugh hard with the audience, and take people on a little journey that they wouldn't have expected from a small Vietnamese-American lesbian.
In your own words, what do you think this show is about? What will audiences take away with them after seeing it?
"Fortunate Daughter." The secret to keeping your family happy is ... keeping your other family secret. A one-dyke show about the difference between coming out and coming home. Thao's Vietnamese family want her to marry -- a man. Her other family -- her Queer activist community -- wants her to come out. She doesn't want to do either! The pressure builds and Thao is forced to make a decision. www.ThaoSolo.com
Which “S” word best describes your show: SMOOTH, SEXY, SMART, SURPRISING?
Either (E) All of the above or (F) None of the above. Seriously ... I would would hope "smart" and "sfunny."
Can theatre bring about societal change? Why or why not?
I think that a lot of Asian communities get branded as "more homophobic" than others. That's certainly not the whole story. And I don't think that we interrogate the ethnocentricity of mainstream Queer or LGBTQQI communities enough. My hope is that this show helps us break away from the Queer cookie cutter and see people's full humanity. And, more importantly, I hope that this show makes people laugh until they cry, snort, and pee.
