Once I was watching the brand new manufacturing of “Vietgone” at Metropolis Lights Theater Firm final weekend, playwright Qui Nguyen’s story of conflict refugees discovering their means in an odd, new land typically made me take into consideration the hundreds of individuals fleeing their properties due to the conflict in Ukraine. And I wasn’t alone.
Throughout a dialogue after Sunday’s matinee, director Jeffrey Lo mentioned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine occurred in the course of the present’s second week of rehearsals. The parallels to their story, set within the aftermath of the Vietnam conflict in 1975, weren't misplaced on the forged or crew.
Jomar Tagatac, who performs the lead character Quang Nguyen, mentioned he was listening to a podcast interview with a Ukrainian man who had quarter-hour to determine if he was going to remain house or depart his nation — possibly ceaselessly. “That form of resonated with what we had been doing right here about this neighborhood, these individuals who had been someday simply, like, I'll depart this nation ceaselessly and by no means come again,” Tagatac mentioned. “And I don’t know if I might make that call.”
The present, which swings from poignant to hilarious and again once more, has been getting raves from audiences because it opened in late March. For San Jose, which has one of many largest Vietnamese populations on the planet exterior of Vietnam, it's a story of the individuals who reside in our neighborhood and what they each gained and misplaced in coming to a brand new house. It runs by way of April 24, and tickets can be found at www.cltc.org.
NEW FACE AT SAN JOSE QUILT MUSEUM: It’s an thrilling time for the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, which has employed Camille Ann Brewer as its new director. She’s obtained a tapestry’s value of expertise within the museum and artwork worlds, together with serving as curator of latest artwork for the George Washington College Museum and Textile Museum in Washington D.C., and as government director of the Black Metropolis Analysis Consortium on the College of Chicago.
However the a part of her profession accomplishments that stood out for me is that she’s an artist, too. Brewer — who earned a bachelor of high quality artwork with distinction from the California School of the Arts in San Francisco and an MFA in textile design from the College of Michigan — is a weaver and a hand-dyer who ran her personal dye works in Detroit. Brewer — who succeeds retired director Nancy Bavor — begins in early Might, because the downtown museum celebrates its forty fifth anniversary this yr.
“We're thrilled that we had been capable of entice somebody of Camille’s caliber to direct the Museum,” Board Co-Chair Melissa Leventon mentioned in an announcement. “Her depth of collections expertise, textile information, and fundraising success positions the museum properly for the longer term.”
AT THE MOVIES: It’s a great week for film followers within the area. Cinejoy, the digital model of the Cinequest movie and creativity pageant, is in full swing with a Maverick Spirit Award presentation for Gemma Arterton set for five:30 p.m. April 10 when her brief, “Bump,” screens together with “Appeal Circle,” a function government produced by Fred Armisen, himself a earlier Maverick Spirit Award recipient. Try the remainder of the schedule and get tickets at www.creatics.org/cinejoy.
And the Poppy Jasper Movie Worldwide Competition kicks off April 6, with screenings going down over the following week in Morgan Hill, Gilroy, San Martin and San Juan Bautista. The schedule opens with a day of programming by youth, together with highschool and school college students, and in addition features a Ladies’s Day (April 8), a vineyard stroll and brunch (April 9), Mexico Day (April 11), an LGBTQ Day (April 12) and an Iran Day (April 13). Get the complete schedule and ticket info at www.pjiff.org.