By this point in the week I was more than a little worse for wear, speed napping whenever I found myself in low light. It was in this tragic state that I accidentally stumbled into Reclaiming Vietnam and happened across my second one woman show of the week.
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| Bacchic - windsorexpress.co.uk |
The first one woman show I ever saw was 'Bacchic' back in May 2008, and although it boasted aerial acrobatics - I was not a fan of the Euripides-based story (nor can I even remember it). This time, I had allowed myself to be more open. Kim Chinh's story was different, she was about to express her own autobiographical story.
As is common at the Fringe you find yourself with tickets to shows you have heard nothing about. You have no idea of what to expect and only have the title of the piece to guide you in your estimations. I had expected to be met with a journey through Vietnam, to learn about the war and to see how it had injured its people. Instead I was thrust into the world of an American and her extended family. Not what I had expected but I ran with it.
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| edinburghfestival.list.co.uk |
Kim began with telling us what she thought about Vietnam and how she dislikes being called Vietnamese. She calls Vietnam backwards, claiming 'I am American' - almost undermining her journey towards loving it before it even really begins. It meant I wasn't really sympathetic with her from the outset, I was annoyed by her for a bit. Why does she hate being Vietnamese? But what was unclear and a little annoying at the beginning did slowly begin to make sense as the piece continued.
It was a piece less about reclaiming her heritage, than forgiving her own family for abusing her trust. She enacts in depth her encounters with three of her cousins as she faces them and tells them that she remembers what they did - they had abused her and molested her and she wanted them to know she had not forgotten. It suddenly became a very personal journey across a backdrop that provided the distractions of war and worry, allowing her childhood abuse to go unnoticed.
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| reclaimingvietnam.com |
I do still struggle with solo shows, interactions with others is part of human nature and body language suggests more about these journeys than a single person can ever give on their own. It was also a little disconcerting to see her confronting her past, but not really confronting her past. It was almost her having discussions with herself in the mirror, rather than her facing up to the men who had betrayed her trust. But then simultaneously, for those more intimate family moments I almost understood it - how can you possibly reenact those intricate and fragile moments of confrontation? I do however, feel it would have been beneficial to share her journey through Vietnam with her travelling partner in the flesh and allow us a break in a rather challenging journey.
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| reclaimingvietnam.com |
The one thing the show achieved was that it did not paint our protagonist as a victim, she was self-aware and looking for answers and at no point did we blame Kim for her past - as is common in cases of abuse. But sometimes this almost worked against her, she would take us back to those moments of fun and lightness. She was dealing with the heavy bits and then distracting us, which perhaps has been the way she herself has moved on from it leaving you to question whether or not she has totally dealt with it or not. But this is less the question I left asking myself. The show was just a little misleading. It led us down the alley of discovery in Vietnam but was cloaked in another story of healing, leaving the Vietnam part, a little unresolved for me.
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| edinburghfestival.list.co.uk |
Much of the piece was mimed. The motorbike Kim sped through Vietnam on, the phone she would call her cousins with, and so on. I'm almost sure that this was due to the artist having a small budget (I mean she'd already flown over from the US for us). But I think that solo shows need that extra aesthetic. I always certainly feel as though I need more to make up for the lack of other actors onstage. The show would certainly benefit from that when touring again.
Perhaps what makes the piece is the fact that the story is true, which perhaps suppresses our verdict as critics and instead opens our hearts to the human at the core of the piece. Not only is it extremely brave, but extremely affecting too, encouraging us to confront our demons and make peace with those things holding us back. Kim grasps her own truths and thrusts them in front of a public audience bearing all for us to judge. As a solo show, it offers a unique portrayal of a woman that has felt alone in her struggle for a long time, as well as offering up her strength in confronting it. Kim is certainly an inspiring woman and despite the reservations I had about the piece, that was the one thing I could not fault.
