Friday, November 22

Tag: Leaving Vietnam

Leaving Vietnam – Park Theatre
London

Leaving Vietnam – Park Theatre

On a career break in my late 20s, I spent a few months in Southeast Asia. I followed the well-trod backpacker's routes to the standard tourist sites and the occasional pub. These days most of us know the Vietnam War through pop culture like Robin Williams wishing us good morning or Marlon Brando telling of terrors. When I went to Vietnam, all I really knew was from pop culture. One of the first things I did was visit the Vietnam Military History Museum and I will never forget the moment the guide pointed out to me that of course in Vietnam, they call it the “American War”. Leaving Vietnam is a monologue written and performed by Richard Vergette about an American Vietnam vet. Jimmy wasn’t drafted, he signed up to become a marine and spent a tour in Vietnam, in the jungle, interrogating v...
Leaving Vietnam – The Kings Arms
North West

Leaving Vietnam – The Kings Arms

'A Bright and Shining Lie' was how writer Neil Sheehan referred to the forty-year involvement of America in the conflict in Vietnam, and this view has formed the basis of a new one man show by Richard Vergette, premiered at the Kings Arms, Salford for the Greater Manchester Fringe Festival over two consecutive nights. Vergette creates the character of Jimmy Vandenberg, an ageing mechanic in a decaying suburb of Detroit, who fixes classic automobiles following his retirement from the local Ford factory in Dearborn. Jimmy is bitter with the world, a bitterness that has its roots in his decision as a 21-year-old to enlist as a US Marine and fight for his country in Vietnam, the scenes he witnessed there having a marked effect on the course of the rest of his life. Vergette is alone onstage...