BIO

Vichet Chum is a Cambodian-American playwright and theater maker, originally from Dallas, Texas and now living in New York City. His plays have been workshopped at Steppenwolf Theatre, the Magic Theater, the Alley Theatre, the UCROSS Foundation, Fault Line Theatre, Crowded Outlet, Second Generation Productions, Weston Playhouse, Cleveland Public Theatre, All For One Theater, Amios, Florida State University, Merrimack Repertory Theatre and the New Harmony Project. He received the 2018-19 Princess Grace Award in Playwriting with New Dramatists and is a current board member for the New Harmony Project. Vichet was a part of the 2019-20 Resident Working Farm Group at Space on Ryder Farm, the 2020 Interstate 73 Writer's Group at Page 73 and the 2020 Ars Nova Play Group. He is a graduate of the University of Evansville (BFA) and Brown University/Trinity Repertory Company (MFA). vichetchum.com

INSPIRED BY

People, Music, Theatre, Movies, Art, Younger people, Older people

EXPLORING:

I'm at the very beginning, incipient stages of writing a YA novel based on one of my plays. It's a coming-of-age story about a queer teenager named Soma whose father's been deported back to Cambodia. Her much older sister, Dahvy has moved back into the house to take care of things while their mother visits their father. As sibling tensions arise trying to figure out their new normal, Soma burrows deep into her writing in search of her unique, original voice.

INSPIRATION FOR PROJECT:

In 2002, the US and Cambodian governments signed a repatriation act that allowed Cambodian deportees to be sent permanently to live in Cambodia. Since then, over 700 Cambodians have been deported. During the Trump administration, the rate increased to over 200%. These deportees were permanent residents who sometimes committed petty felonies decades ago, served their time, and still were deported. Many of them had spouses, children, and families. I'm looking at the human cost of our complicated, highly-politicized immigration system within the scope of an affected family.