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SAIGON

Caroline Guiela Nguyen

— ,Theatre
A younger woman and an older woman cook together in a kitchen set

© Jean Louis Fernandez

Set in a bustling restaurant in both 1950s Vietnam and 1990s France, this monumental production moves between time and place to tell poignant stories about migration, memory and belonging.

Taking place in a vast, panoramic set where strangers gather to eat, drink, remember and mourn, ordinary encounters unfold into sweeping tales of connection and resilience.

By turns intimate and expansive, joyful and heartbreaking, Saigon is a rich theatrical experience that delves into the painful, shared history between France and Vietnam, and the long-term consequences of colonial warfare and migration.

Renowned for telling universal personal stories behind significant historical events, French director Caroline Guiela Nguyen is the founder of the theatre company Les Hommes Approximatifs and Artistic Director of Théâtre National de Strasbourg. She returns to our stage following the acclaimed run of LACRIMA in 2025.

Tagged with: Theatre & dance Young Barbican Theatre and Dance: Spring 2027

Duration: 3h 15mins (including a 20-minute interval)

Age guidance: 14+
This production explores material that may be more suitable for audiences aged 14 and over.

Performed in French and Vietnamese, with English surtitles

Presented by the Barbican.

Produced by Théâtre National de Strasbourg.

A co-production with Les Hommes Approximatifs, Odéon, théâtre de l’Europe, La Comédie de Valence - CDN Drôme-Ardèche ; MC2: Grenoble ; Festival d’Avignon ; CDN de Normandie-Rouen ; CDN de Tours - Théâtre Olympia ; Comédie de Reims –CDN ; Théâtre National de Bretagne - Centre Européen Théâtral et Chorégraphique ; Théâtre du Beauvaisis - Scène Nationale de l’Oise ; Théâtre de La Croix-Rousse, Lyon ; Domaine d’O ; Teatro Nacional D.Maria II.

Creative Team

  • Text by Caroline Guiela Nguyen in collaboration with the artistic team  
  • Caroline Guiela Nguyen   Director
  • Claire Calvi, Paola Secret   Artistic Collaboration
  • Alice Duchange   Set Design
  • Benjamin Moreau   Costume Designer
  • Jérémie Papin   Lighting Designer
  • Sébastien Lemarchand   Assistant Lighting Designer
  • Antoine Richard   Sound Designer
  • Orane Duclos   Assistant Sound Designer
  • Teddy Gauliat-Pitois   Musical Composition
  • Antoine Richard   Musical Composition Assistant
  • Jérémie Scheidler and Manon Worms   Dramaturgy and Surtitling
  • Hugo Soubise   Dramaturgy Intern
  • Duc Duy Nguyen and Thi Thanh Thu Tô   Translation
  • Pascale Barré, Aude Bretagne, Dominique Fournier, Barbara Mornet, Frédérique Payot   Wardrobe
  • Christelle Paillard   Wigs
  • Dorothée Duplan, Agence Plan Bey   PR
  • Performers   Caroline Arrouas and Maud Le Grevellec (alternating), Dan Artus, Adeline Guillot and Cécile Coustillac (alternating), Thi Trúc Ly Huynh, Hoàng Son Lê, Anne-Marie Ly-Cuong, Phú Hau Nguyen, Maurin Ollès and Matthieu Sampeur (alternating), Yen Linh Tham,

Performers

  • Caroline Arrouas and Maud Le Grevellec (alternating)  
  • Dan Artus  
  • Adeline Guillot and Cécile Coustillac (alternating)  
  • Thi Trúc Ly Huynh  
  • Hoàng Son Lê  
  • Anne-Marie Ly-Cuong  
  • Phú Hau Nguyen  
  • Maurin Ollès and Matthieu Sampeur (alternating)  
  • Yen Linh Tham  
  • Anh Tran Nghia  
  • Hiep Tran Nghia  

Ticket prices

Standard
From £24 (£20 + £4 transaction fee)
  • ‘A glorious and heart-wrenching theatrical testament‘
    TimeOut Worldwide
  • ‘Her shows have a gorgeous, unreal aesthetic, but the language is radical too: by refusing surtitles for multilingual shows, Nguyen pushes against old hierarchies and privileges‘
    The Guardian
  • ‘It makes plain the intimate pain wrought by colonial arrogance, culture clashes and exile.‘
    The New York Times
  • ‘A show of great simplicity that can be listened to like a love song, read like a novel or watched like a film‘
    The Citizen

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