May 19 - June 4, 2023
Simmering arguments around authorship, ownership and taste come to a roaring boil in this three-part comedy. Spanning cultures and centuries, Chinn’s triptych is a humorously incisive look at authenticity and appropriation told through the history of Vietnamese noodle soup. OCT's production is the third in a rolling world premiere, following productions at Aurora Theatre (Berkeley, CA) and Chance Theater (Anaheim, CA).
Click here for the press release for Colonialism Is Terrible But Pho Is Delicious.
Click here for the digital playbill for Colonialism Is Terrible, But Phở Is Delicious
Colonialism Is Terrible, But Phở Is Delicious has a run time of approximately 95 minutes with no intermission.
Dustin H. Chinn (Playwright) is a NYC-based Seattle native who’s developed work with Ars Nova’s Play Group, the Ma-Yi Writers Lab, A.C.T.’s New Strands Festival, the University of Washington via a Mellon Creative Fellowship, UC Berkeley, SPACE on Ryder Farm, UMass at Amherst New Play Lab, Vampire Cowboys and is a 2022-3 Colt Coeur CoCo Resident. This show is a product of the Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and is a recipient of the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award. He’ll be in Scotland this June to attend the Hawthornden Castle Writers Retreat, starting a new play about liveaboard scuba diving boats.
Oánh Nguyễn (Director) has been serving as Chance Theater’s founding Artistic Director since 1999. Oánh is a recipient of TCG’s New Generations Grant and the TCG Nathan Cummings Young Leaders of Color Fellowship. He was awarded the Outstanding Artist Award by Arts Orange County, profiled in Orange County Register’s “Most Influential People” series and OC Weekly’s People Issue, inducted into Anaheim High School’s Hall of Fame and was a commencement speaker for Chapman University College of Performing Arts. Oánh was Producing Associate at South Coast Repertory for three years. He also served on the advisory board of the Anaheim High School Performing Arts Conservatory, the board of Network of Ensemble Theatres, LA’s 99-seat Transitional Committee, and OC Theatre Guild, as well as panels and committees for Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Alternative Theatre Los Angeles, National Endowment for the Arts and Theatre Communications Group. His directing credits include productions at Chance Theater, East West Players, the J. Paul Getty Museum, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, South Coast Repertory, Aurora Theatre Company, Oregon Contemporary Theatre, Chapman University, Azusa Pacific University, AMDA, CSU Fullerton and served as the Associate Director for the international tour of David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish (Berkeley Repertory, South Coast Repertory, Hong Kong Arts Festival). His selected film credits include Two Brothers, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaude, Rush Hour 3, directed by Brett Ratner, and Lonely Boy, directed by Dale Fabrigar (Best First Feature Grand Jury Prize at the 2013 Louisiana International Film Festival and Audience Award Winner at the 2013 BolderLife Festival).
Jerilyn Armstrong (Madame Garnier/Rose/Julie) is delighted to be back at Oregon Contemporary Theatre to share this hilarious and poignant story with such a fire team. Past OCT productions include: Alabaster, Middletown and The Big Meal. She was most recently in Metaverse at Corrib Theatre in Portland, Oregon. Film credits include independent feature films Woe and #chadgetstheaxe. She’s studied and performed improv at UCB (Los Angeles) and Kickstand Comedy (Portland).
Anthony Doan (Nguyễn/Quang/Sam) is thrilled to make his debut at Oregon Contemporary Theatre. He returns to these roles having played them in the first production of Colonialism is Terrible, But Phở is Delicious at Aurora Theatre Company in Berkeley, California. As a Vietnamese-American immigrant, he feels proud to represent his cultural identity and celebrate his love for phở through this thought-provoking and hilarious comedy. Other notable credits include Christian in Cyrano de Bergerac, Dumaine in Love's Labor's Lost (Island Shakespeare Festival); Nhan & Playwright understudy tracks in Vietgone (City Lights Theatre Company); and John Lee in Porcelain (Brown Bag Theatre Company). Anthony is a coastal theatre artist and storyteller currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Alex Foufos (Guillaume/Hugh/Chris) graduated from Willamette University with a BA in Theatre. While most of his days are spent building river boards and inflatable raft pumps in Hillsboro, he finds the time to sing and act as much as possible. Most recently he was seen as Dorante in The Liar (Willamette University) and Henrik in A Little Night Music in Salem, OR. Outside of work and theatre, Alex enjoys spending time with his friends, family and partner.
Cat Limket (Thuy/Mui/Danielle) is thrilled to be working at Oregon Contemporary Theatre for the first time. On film, she can currently be seen in Spike Lee's Tales from the Hood 2 (AppleTV, PrimeVideo), The Blonde Experiment (Comedy Central), and this Fall in KillHer (Amazon Prime). She is also known for her TV roles on Ballers (HBO), 90210 (CW), and Entourage (HBO). Big hugs and love to her new OCT family, her partner Liam, and her manager Iona (Zero Gravity Management).
Riley Allen (Production Stage Manager; Production Assistant) graduated from Central Washington University with a Bachelors in Theatre Design and Production, specializing in everything from Scenic Design to Stage Management to Electrician work. His stage management credits include: Dissent (CWU Ghostlight Lab), Holiday Inn (The Shedd Institute) and OCT's entire 2022-2023 season so far (though he would like to specifically mention Hedwig and the Angry Inch, as calling that show gave him a few grey hairs). Riley is excited to not only be using all facets of his degree this season, but to have the opportunity to work with Oregon Contemporary Theatre in such an intimate venue on a season teeming with variety and tough questions. Born in the Puget Sound area, he is excited to see that the Seattle Kraken are no longer the worst team in the NHL.
James Ard (Sound Designer) is a noisemaker with a focus on new works, interactive media and immersive stage productions. Recent theatrical Sound Design credits include Our Country (Octopus Theatricals / Under The Radar Festival / The Public Theater), This Much I Know, Exit Strategy, Actually, Dry Powder, The Royale (Aurora Theatre Company), This Is Who I Am (Playco / Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company / Guthrie Theater / Oregon Shakespeare Festival / American Repertory Theater), 9 Parts of Desire (Portland Center Stage), Phantasmagoria, Utopia, Free For All, La Ronde (Cutting Ball Theater), A Small Fire, Kings (Shotgun Players), Our Town (Center Repertory Company), Indecent (San Francisco Playhouse), Time of Change (Joe Goode Performance Group), On The Periphery (Crowded Fire Theater / Golden Thread Productions), You For Me For You, Church (Crowded Fire Theater) and The Most Dangerous Highway in the World (Golden Thread Productions). He is a Resident Artist with both Golden Thread Productions and Crowded Fire Theater.
Clark Barlowe (Culinary Consultant)
Ashley Christensen (Lighting Designer) is a senior at the at the University of Oregon majoring in Theatre Arts and Music History. Recent credits include: stage manager and lighting designer for L'italiana in Algeri (UO Opera Ensemble), assistant lighting designer for She Kills Monsters and designer for God Said This (University of Oregon). She is excited to be working with the Oregon Contemporary Theatre for the first time!
Jeffrey Cook (Scenic Designer) is a Washington native living in Seattle and working throughout the Northwest since 1990. Productions for Oregon Contemporary Theater include: The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberly, Marjorie Prime, Last Five Years, Good People, Clybourne Park, Lie of the Mind, Next to Normal and Assassins. Seattle design work includes: The Seattle Children's Theatre (Designs with Mo Willems, Kevin Kling and Steven Dietz), The 5th Avenue Theater, Village Theater and designs for Harlequin Productions, Book-It, Tacoma Actors Guild, Taproot and Profile Theatre in Portland (Pinter season). He has designed the official City of Seattle Winterfest experience since 2008. National Work: Three years at the Denver Center Theatre design and production shops, and Thomas the Train Live on Stage. BFA Washington State University 1991, MFA University of Oregon 1995. JeffreyDesigns.net
Natalia Duong (Dramaturg) is thrilled to rejoin the PHỞ team after serving as a dramaturg for the 2018 staged reading at Bay Area Playwrights Foundation and the first two portions of the World Premiere at Aurora Theater Company (Berkeley, CA) and Chance Theater (Anaheim, CA)! Natalia is a scholar, teacher, and multidisciplinary performance maker whose recent credits include: dramaturgy for love you long time (already) by Katie Đỗ (South Coast Rep) and Tiger Beat by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin (Bay Area Playwrights Foundation); assistant directing Poor Yella Rednecks: Vietgone Part 2, and Vietgone (A.C.T.); and The Luckiest and Seize the King (La Jolla Playhouse). She holds a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from UC Berkeley and is currently a UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow at UCLA. www.nataliaduong.com
Tricia Rodley (Dialect Coach) is a Senior Instructor in Theatre Arts at the University of Oregon with a career focus on teaching, acting, directing and voice/accent coaching. Her practice areas also include dramaturgy and new play development. Recent directing projects at UO include Sarah DeLappe’s The Wolves and Noël Coward’s Hay Fever. Recent dialect coaching projects include Hay Fever, Once, and A Christmas Carol with University Theatre as well as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley with Oregon Contemporary Theatre. Prior to UO, Tricia lived and worked in New York, received an MA in Classical Acting from The Central School of Speech and Drama in London, and co-founded Printer’s Devil Theatre in Seattle.
Shinshin Yuder Tsai (Assistant Director) who previously assisted Oanh in the Rolling World Premiere, is thrilled to collaborate with this talented group of artists on such an exciting project. With a love for the arts and a passion for storytelling, Shinshin is committed to creating a positive and inclusive atmosphere in the rehearsal room while fostering a safe and supportive space for all members of the production team. As an added bonus, this show always makes Shinshin crave a bowl of Phở—with bruised Thai basil and all the meat cuts, especially extra tripe! Shinshin is excited to witness the growth and evolution of this show and to continue exploring the endless possibilities of theatre.
Laura Tuffli (Props Designer; Assistant Stage Manager) recently graduated from the University of Oregon, majoring in Theatre Arts and minoring in Music. They have spent their time in theatre focusing on costumes, wigs and makeup. Costuming credits include: The 39 Steps, After the Revolution, 12 Angry Jurors (Pocket Playhouse); Birds Flying Through (LCC); assistant costume design for Hay Fever (University Theatre); makeup/wig design for A Midsummer Night's Dream (The Tall Tale Players); and makeup/wig stylist and assistant stage manager for Hedwig And The Angry Inch (Oregon Contemporary Theatre). Laura is very excited to be a part of the show!
Erin Wills (Costume Designer) has previously designed at Oregon Contemporary Theatre for Something Clean, Alabaster, A Doll’s House Pt 2, Buyer & Cellar, Art, The Roommate, Thanksgiving Play, Fun Home, 39 Steps, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Lucky Me, Clybourne Park, A Bright New Boise, Tribes, Next to Normal and Fahrenheit 451. She graduated from the University of Oregon and completed MFA work in costume technology at the North Carolina School of the Arts. Additional credits include the Old Globe Theatre, Georgia Shakespeare Festival, North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, New York City Center and Broadway productions.
Simmering arguments around authorship, ownership and taste come to a roaring boil in this three-part comedy. Spanning cultures and centuries, Chinn’s triptych is a humorously incisive look at authenticity and appropriation told through the history of Vietnamese noodle soup. OCT's production is the third in a rolling world premiere, following productions at Aurora Theatre (Berkeley, CA) and Chance Theater (Anaheim, CA).
Click here for the press release for Colonialism Is Terrible But Pho Is Delicious.
Click here for the digital playbill for Colonialism Is Terrible, But Phở Is Delicious
Colonialism Is Terrible, But Phở Is Delicious has a run time of approximately 95 minutes with no intermission.
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