Poor Yella Rednecks tickets

By: Qui Nguyen
Director: May Adrales
Choreography: William Carlos Angulo
Producer: South Coast Repertory and Manhattan Theatre Club
Cast list: Jon Hoche, Ben Levin, Samantha Quan, Jon Norman Schneider, Maureen Sebastian, Paco Tolson
Design: Tim Mackabee
Costumes: Valérie Thérèse Bart
Lighting: Lap Chi Chu
Sound: Shane Rettig
Other info: Original music by Shane Rettig, projection design by Jared Mezzocchi, puppet design by David Valentine, arrangements by Kenny Seymour, music direction by Cynthia Meng

Poor Yella Rednecks premiered in 2019 at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, California. The premiere of Poor Yella Rednecks off Broadway is directed by May Adrales, who has directed seven prior Off-Broadway shows, including Nguyen's play Vietgone.

Music (including bursts of hip-hop) and various pop culture references factor into Poor Yella Rednecks, often in a satirical context. For example, contrasting, often nonsensical references appear — from Star Wars to Fleetwood Mac to Mitch McConnell — to poke fun at how Americans and American culture may sound to those unfamiliar.

What to watch for

• Poor Yella Rednecks is the sequel to Vietgone, based on how his parents met as American refugees from Vietnam, and is the second play in an autobiographical trilogy. The same main characters, Nguyen's parents, lead both plays.
• History repeats itself! Like Poor Yella Rednecks, Vietgone premiered at South Coast Repertory and then went to Manhattan Theatre Club, where May Adrales directed.
• Nguyen was co-artistic director of Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company, which presented action/adventure theatre works with a comic book aesthetic. He uses this aesthetic in Poor Yella Rednecks, with animated projections, comic book-style fight scenes, and puppetry as part of the design.
• Nguyen is a character in the play, or, rather, two. A character called The Playwright represents his current self, and in past productions, a puppet stood in for his young self.