Heritage

For the first time in a long while, I thought about what I would truly be interested in devising an entire production on. I thought back to my summer internship last year when I first encountered people who regarded refugees of the Vietnam War worthy of amazement. The entire situation just seemed laughable to me considering that I had always been surrounded by these refugees. Both my parents had escaped the war on boats that were to small only to reach refugee camps that forced them to work in the rice fields. Growing up with these stories forever repeated in my ears, I had grown used to the fact that my parents were refugees. Now that I am a bit older, I am able to fully comprehend the magnitude of what both my parents had to endure at a very young age. The tales of their journey are extremely personal and something I feel that could move an audience. Not only do I want to memoralize their experiences, but in a sense I want to pay tribute to the heritage of my entire family, an entire generation of people lost to the consequences of war. When I pitched this idea to my teacher, I was met with a good response as well as some recommendations. She gave me A Piece of My Heart and Shrapnel in the Heart to read and perhaps glean some ideas from. As I discussed my idea further with my classmate, we were able to develop beyond the idea of just my family's story so as to extend the plot to other people in our community who have experience monumental things. At this point, I am not sure whether I would like to create a collection of stories or simply address that of my family.