Michael Thanh Tran
Photography by Jennifer A. Lin
We asked Seedfolks actor Michael Thanh Tran a few questions about his experiences working on this captivating production. Read what he said!
Who do you play in Seedfolks?
I play Kim, Wendell, Sae Young, and Curtis.
Which role(s) did you connect with the most and why?
The roles that I connected to the most were Kim and Sae Young.
Kim is written in both the play and the book as Vietnamese. As the son of Vietnamese refugees born here in America, I saw so much of myself in Kim and resonated with his desire and longing to connect with a culture that he is surrounded by but never knew. As we continued with the process, I saw so much resilience, hope, fortitude, and maturity in Kim (even though he's only 9!). The maturity that Kim holds speaks truth to some of the experiences that children of immigrants and refugees have--being not just a son, daughter, or child, but oftentimes having the additional responsibility to be a translator, a representative, a negotiator, etc. for the family... that takes a lot of maturity and that maturity comes at such a young age.
Sae Young was also a character that I connected with. There is so much joy in Sae Young and a desire to be in connection with others. I don't want to give too much away, but there is a moment where they describe a traumatic event that happened to them two years ago and we get to witness the result of that event on their life, well-being, and desire to connect with others. Doing the math for our production—that places us in 2020—at the height of COVID and when Asian hate crimes were at an all-time high. Jess and I approached this monologue and moment with a lot of love and care—recognizing that even though the book was published in 1999 and the play premiered in 2014, that in 2022, Sae Young's experience as an Asian living in America still rings true two decades later. That was a moment of connection for me and a connection that I hope the audience makes as well.
But whether it is Kim or Sae Young, as an Asian-American actor, to be able to play two Asian characters onstage provides a unique to connection to the material. Playing someone who identifies as your identity, lives in the same skin as you do, and share in your own experiences is something that is so special and rare—especially for BIPOC actors. Often times, playing these roles you can just simply be you and speak the truth—and it's enough.
How did you prepare for the different dialects?
We had this AMAZING dialect coach named Leah Gabriel who we had individual sessions with. We worked through each monologue, line by line, moment by moment. Wendell's Southern dialect was something that I had already learned in college, so it was a matter of brushing up on it. But the most challenging one for me was the Korean dialect. We wanted to make sure that Sae Young's dialect was accurate and came from a place of authenticity and joy, and not caricature or stereotype. Kim's Convenience does a great job of capturing this—so along with Leah's help, I also watched a ton of Kim's Convenience.
What was something that surprised you during the rehearsal process?
I don't know if this counts as a single "surprise," but more of a succession of surprises. I was so grateful to share the room with such amazing collaborators like Tyler White and Joshua Mayfield in the rehearsal process. We had so much fun because we kept on surprising each other with ad-libs, moments, and bits. Every day in rehearsal, we would come into the room and make these amazing, bold choices that cracked us up, but also help us discover something about our characters and relationships onstage. Many of these moments we've kept in the show. In fact, if I'm being honest, I'm still surprised every performance we have because we are all still ad-libbing and improv-ing—so I have no idea what Josh or Tyler is going to say or do next. I credit our director for giving us the space to do that and I shed a tear for our Stage Manager Jimmy Bernatowicz who has to manage all that.
The other surprise is that one day when we were rehearsing the trash choreography, the Company found bags of candy hidden throughout the set. I still don't know who did it.
There is a lot of "garbage" carefully placed on the stage to evoke the setting of a vacant lot in Seedfolks... and much of it gets moved around during the performance. Was that challenging to navigate? If yes, how so?
Oh absolutely. Much like dance choreography or memorizing lines, we had to memorize the process and the order of the trash. Margery and Peter Spack, our set designers were absolutely brilliant in collaborating with Jess, our director when it came to this. It was the definition of controlled chaos. It became a process of putting small individual pieces of trash into piles. Then putting those piles into bigger piles. And then removing the piles altogether!
Where are you from? Can you talk a bit about the community you grew up in? How have you connected some of those early community experiences to your work in Seedfolks?
I'm from St. Louis! The 314. The Lou. Born and raised. I grew up in Tower Grove South just off Grand. I grew up in a neighborhood that was predominantly minority and this was where I had my first experience with community. I didn't grow up in a lavish neighborhood, but we had neighbors supporting neighbors. Looking out for each other.
Before he passed, my grandfather had a garden that he managed in the backyard. He would grow cucumbers, chili peppers, and all types of different and beautiful flowers. He poured his heart and soul into this garden. With him, he rejected this idea of scarcity and embraced abundance. It wasn't just thinking about the plot of dirt in the garden—that was limited real estate—but thinking about the garden and the community as a whole. We had so many chili peppers growing in our yard, that we gave them away to neighbors and family. And we still had a ton of them left over that we froze them. It was inspiring to see his generosity and kindness to strangers, even as a young child.
He's my Seedfolk.
Ha Tran.
What is something you hope audience members may discover when seeing Seedfolks?
I hope that when audiences come to see this show, they may see and discover themselves, their neighbors, and their communities in these characters. There is something intrinsically human about all these characters, regardless of cultural background and/or experiences. And I hope that audiences can see and discover the humanity of these characters reflected in themselves and strive to bring out the humanity of others when they leave the theater.
What do you enjoy about working on a Theatre for Young Audiences production?
The gasp of discovery when a young audience member sees or hears something onstage that they resonate with. Eyes lighting up with wonder when they see something magical happen onstage. A burst of full-hearted laughter.
These are some moments that bring me joy as an artist because that's how I know what we are doing onstage is working and resonating. And Young Audiences are some of the BEST audiences because they will tell you the TRUTH—whether you like it or not. Doing TYA also brings me joy because at such a young age, we are introducing, instilling, and reinforcing young audiences to themes of empathy, community, respect, and more.
I do theatre because I believe in the beauty, magic, and power of theatre to change hearts and minds—to hold a mirror up to where we've been, where we are, and where we can go. And these young audiences will be the ones who will take us to where we can go. To be a small part of that is rewarding. And to be able to do it at such a nationally-recognized organization like Metro Theater Company, which has been inspiring young generations since 1973, makes it especially rewarding.