DUST
by Qui Nguyen
Staged Readings:
Saturday, June 20 at 2pm
Sunday, June 28 at 7:30pm
Dust is the story of Thuy, a girl who sets out to find her ex-G.I. father—who has kept her existence a secret from his wife for 16 years. Blending live hip-hop, raw emotion and wry wit, Dust recasts the American dream through the eyes of an Amer-Asian teenager in this redemptive, cross-cultural coming-of-age story. The newest work by Arkansas native Qui Nguyen (2014 Sundance Institute Fellow).
Meet the Playwright
Qui Nguyen is a playwright, screenwriter, and Co-Founder of the OBIE Award-winning Vampire Cowboys of NYC. His work, known for its innovative use of pop-culture, stage violence, puppetry, and multimedia, has been lauded as "Culturally Savvy Comedy" by The New York Times, "Infectious Fun" by Variety, and "Tour De Force Theatre" by Time Out New York. This past season, The Chicago Tribune praised him as a “refreshing, break-the-rules writer” as Time Out Chicago named his play She Kills Monsters one of the 10 Best Plays of 2013.
Scripts include War is F**king Awesome (currently being developed by Sundance); She Kills Monsters (The Flea);Krunk Fu Battle Battle (East West Players); Bike Wreck(Ensemble Studio Theatre); Trial By Water (Ma-Yi Theater); Aliens Versus Cheerleaders (Keen Teens); Soul Samurai; The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G (Ma-Yi Theater & Vampire Cowboys); Lush Valley (HERE); and the critically acclaimed Vampire Cowboys productions ofAlice in Slasherland; Fight Girl Battle World; Men of Steel; and Living Dead in Denmark.
His scripts are published by Samuel French, Playscripts, and Broadway Play Publishing.
Recent honors include being a 2014 Sundance Institute/Time Warner Fellow; a 2014 McCarter/Sallie B. Goodman Fellow; a 2013 Sundance Theatre Lab Fellow; a recipient of a 2013 AATE Distinguished Play Award (She Kills Monsters); a 2012 TCG Young Leader of Color; and receiving 2012 & 2009 GLAAD Media Award nominations for his plays She Kills Monsters and Soul Samurai.
He is a proud resident artist at New Dramatists, a core member of The Playwrights’ Center, an alumnus of Youngblood, and a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Ma-Yi Writers Lab, and the Keen Company New Play Lab.
Currently, Qui's at work on new plays at South Coast Rep (Vietgone), Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis (Samantha Rai & The Shogun of Fear), HERE (Trade Practices), NYU (Five Days Till Saturday), The Playwrights Center (Dust), The Professional Performing Arts School (Begets); and Vampire Cowboys (Six Rounds of Vengeance). For television, he's writes for the children's cartoon, Peg+Cat, currently airing on PBS KIDS.
His company, Vampire Cowboys, often credited for being the pioneers of "geek theatre", holds the unique distinction of being the first and currently only professional theatre organization to be officially sponsored by NY Comic Con. They've been praised by the Village Voice as "New York's Best Army of Geeks" and currently in-residence at The New Ohio Theater and IRT.