This is so much more than another show about ‘finding yourself’

Based on a true story, Flora Le’s Sadec 1965: A Love Story follows a journey through Vietnam that starts as an adventure and slowly morphs into something so much more personal. An attempt to understand familial history and the stories that are passed generation through generation, what makes this show remarkable is not its spectacle or performance, it is the way it explores a journey without forgetting the person at the center of it.

By far, the most mesmerizing aspect of Sadec 1965 was its fluid and dynamic staging. Flora Le seemed to float alongside the words she was speaking, moving effortlessly between separate locations, moments and memories. The transitions between time and space were easy to follow and were helped immensely by the lighting design and Guy Kelly’s underscoring. Instead of making the show feel cluttered, these aspects worked together to allow the past and present to move freely within the theatre. The Simplicity of Le’s movement also gave the show a large sense of intimacy . Rather than feeling like you're watching a play, it felt as though you were invited into Flora Le’s personal thoughts and self discovery. As a direct result, the emotional points in the show landed with greater impact.

Guy Kelly’s underscoring invokes intense emotion, and is another driving force of Sadec 1965 . Kelly’s music does much more than accompany Le’s storytelling, it aids in establishing the emotional landscape of each scene, Kelly consistently creates a sense of wonder and imagination through the movement on stage, as well as adding weight to the memories and revelations being explored.

Knowing Sadec 1965 draws itself from real history and lived in experience, makes it all the more impactful. In the end it is Flora Le’s performance that makes this show feel so immediate. Her acting never made the events of this show feel like history or fiction, instead the production lays its attention onto Le’s personal experience regarding her journey of unfolding her fathers past. What makes this show shine is that it is intimate and uniquely human.

Sadec 1965: A Love Story is a gripping and beautifully staged piece about family, memory, and the difficult process of, not finding yourself, but more so finding what you’ve inherited, I highly recommend seeing it at the Edmonton Fringe, and taking a look at the show's website afterward to learn more about the story behind the production, you will not regret it.