STEPHANIE DENNISON and ALFREDO LUIZ DE OLIVEIRA SUPPIA explain the political context of The Secret Agent, a gripping thriller that reminds us why academic freedom needs protecting
ADVERTISING itself as the first British-Vietnamese play to be staged in this country, Tuyen Do’s script is a tightly structured, engaging and effective account of the challenges facing first and second-generation Vietnamese immigrants here.
The real drama, though, is not the racism they face but the tensions between generations. The older generation bears the concealed scars of the Vietnam war and clings to their cultural values, while the young try to deal with traditional parental expectations in a very different world.
Set in an oriental-style house dominated by two sewing machines, initially their only source of income, the family struggles to maintain a Vietnamese identity in an environment beset by financial hardships and social challenges.
WILL STONE applauds a fine production that endures because its ever-relevant portrait of persecution
MARY CONWAY relishes two matchless performers and a masterclass in tightly focused wordplay
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic


