The bare facts around the plot of writer Tuyen Do’s Summer Rolls appear to suggest a simple family drama, albeit one very much framed by a contemporary take on immigration, belonging and past.  But this is a deceptively complex work which goes deeper into the psyche of having a dual identity as well as the hidden identities that are gradually revealed.

As the first British Vietnamese play to be staged in the UK Summer Rolls shines a new powerful light into a little featured ethnic minority. 

A strong cast is headed by Linh-Dan Pham as the mother whose maternal instincts appear to be limited to one setting called ‘tough love’.  She is especially hard on her daughter Mai who struggles to balance her Vietnamese background with her adopted culture. Mai is rebellious, but within reason, although has one big secret; her black boyfriend David (Keon Martial-Phillip).  Family struggles are typified by the way that father Kwong Loke has to kowtow for family sewing jobs to local entrepreneur Mr Dinh (David Lee-Jones)  and the desperation shown by Anh, his son (Michael Phong Le) who tries to succeed in an Essex where expectations are limited by the colour of his skin.

However, there is a lot more going on and although this is what makes the play so fascinating, it occasionally goes off in more than one direction at a time. The excellent Anna Nguyen as Mai perfectly captures the transition from bolshy fourteen year old to assured mid-twenties woman photographing her community. This is her first theatrical debut and there is surely more to come from this highly talented actor.     

Most impactful is the different slant that a play about this community can tell us.  The family’s escape from the horrors of a civil war are made more pertinent when set against radio broadcasts that recount stories of successive conflicts and the migration of peoples escaping terror.  Card games between Father and Mr Dinh are interrupted by awareness that they fought on different sides of the conflict; it is conflict that lies at the heart of the piece, be it domestic, familial or racial.

Director Kristine Landon-Smith paints a vivid picture of a family attempting to place themselves in a new land while not always understanding which elements of the old they  need to leave behind. A cooly mixed cultural set designed by Moi Tran captures this dichotomy beautifully.  As the family fortunes improve following a venture opening a Vietnamese restaurant financial worries lessen, but other battles remain. Chief among these are of parental control, identity and acceptance.  A final easing of tension only comes with the promise of new life and the ending of an old one. 

Summer Rolls, like the dish, reveals more than is suggested at first bite. It is in fact a fascinating insight into a family’s struggles with identity. Although the themes covered are ambitious, it is fantastic that the voice of the Vietnamese community is at last heard in UK theatres.         ★★★★☆     Bryan Mason   25^th July 2019