Refugee Nation
Design: Malichansouk Kouanchao. Click to view larger image.
TeAda’s First National Community-Based Theater Project
Written and performed by Leilani Chan and Ova Saopeng
Based on the stories of Laotian Refugees and their descendents
A mother lives in the darkness of a South Los Angeles apartment. An Army General struggles to forget a lost war. A son battles in the streets of urban America. Refugee Nation is about a young generation struggling to understand their history and the silence of an elder generation still healing from the traumas of the U.S. waged Secret War in Laos during the Vietnam War era.
More than just a telling of Laotian American history, the two-person performance eloquently touches upon issues relating to the refugee experience, assimilation, generation gap, and mental health using drama, film, music, and audience interaction, and personalizes these issues through a genuine Laotian American perspective. The result is a product that not only brings to light the hidden stories of Laotian Americans around the U.S., but one that is able to unite people from all types of backgrounds, ethnicities, and histories by relaying the ideas of change, loss, struggle, healing, and the unrelenting strength of the human spirit.
The Refugee Nation continues to grow. With the certainty of new refugee arrivals coming from the Middle East, what can we learn from the wounds of a war 30 years ago that are still yet to be healed?
Join the Refugee Nation!
- Sign up on the mailing list and stay up-to-date with the latest tour information
- Sponsor community workshops, shows and student tickets – contact us for more info
- Spread the word – follow our blog at refugeenation.com and join our Facebook group
- Gear up with one of our T-shirts from blacklava.net
Refugee Nation is being developed in collaboration with Legacies of War, a national organization dedicated to raise awareness about the history of the Vietnam War-era bombing in Laos. For more information on how to support this education and advocacy effort, visit legaciesofwar.org.
Refugee Nation has been supported in part by the Rockefeller Foundation’s MAP Fund; SPARC; UCLA’s World Arts And Culture’s 2006 HOTHOUSE; Center Theater Group/TCG-Roger Gueneveur Smith Writer’s Workshop; CSU Dominguez Hills’ Pat Eliet Lecture Series; Los Angeles Immigrant Funders’ Collaborative; City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs; National Asian American Theater Festival; National Performance; Network; Out North; Highways Performance Space and Gallery.
