Review: ‘Poor Yella Rednecks’ a delightfully rambunctious immigrants’ tale

A badass rock ’n’ roll vibe made “Vietgone” a rollicking ride into the Vietnamese immigrant experience. Now playwright Qui Nguyen revisits the main characters, his parents, in a rambunctious sequel “Poor Yella Rednecks,” in its regional premiere at American Conservatory Theater.

A cheeky sensibility, the unbridled marriage of slow-mo kung-fu, elegant puppetry, and retro-rap (music by Shammy Dee), makes Nguyen’s autobiographical odyssey so tart and refreshing. While all of the hip-hop elements don’t quite flow from the action as well as they should, undercutting our emotional connection with the tumultuous love story of Tong (Jenny Nguyen Nelson) and Quang (Hyunmin Rhee), few playwrights have as much breezy fun with issues of culture, language and identity.

Tong and Quang certainly do not fit keep-your-head-down Asian parent tropes. These two swagger. They lust. They curse. They trade barbs like “Is that made outta beaver? ’Cause dayum.” They also struggle with strained commitment and tight budgets, which make being refugees lost in ‘80s Arkansas that much harder.

Nguyen delightfully captures the way Southern good old boys might sound to refugee ears. The patois often sounds like sitcom babble: “In land of cheeseburger, Batman can no have two Robins.”

Casting versatile Bay Area thespian Jomar Tagatac as the American-born playwright/narrator was a smooth move. The actor nails the smart-aleck aesthetic that suffuses this production, energetically directed by Jaime Castañeda.

When the playwright first tries to convince his mother to share her story, she insists that only white people like the theater.

“All sorts of people like watching plays, mom,” he insists. “Yes, all sorts of white people,” she retorts. “Look around — it look like a Fleetwood Mac concert.” Though cleverly framed by pop culture references from “Star Wars” and “Spider-Man” to “Cheers,” this staging doesn’t fully spark until Tong starts unleashing a series of hell-for-leather riffs on the themes of going it alone. She realizes that she may never find a man who’s truly worthy of her and she runs with it.

In many ways “Poor Yella” is more a love letter to Nguyen’s mother and grandmother, both tough cookies who refuse to be subordinated, than to the Asian American experience in general.

The charismatic Christine Jamlig dazzles in a trio of roles as the spurned ex-wife, the redoubtable grandmother, and the hottie in the bar.

The women in this adventure are not easily pigeonholed because they’re more densely drawn than the males, largely cowboys and layabouts.

Surprisingly one of the most compelling male characters is the child, known as Little Man, indelibly brought to life by puppeteer Will Dao. The scenes between the little boy and his grandmother, who is afraid he will grow up to view her as an embarrassment with a thick accent, give the production its most tender moments, capturing the ache of being a child of immigrants.

The music and the motifs may not quite coalesce in this freewheeling journey yet but “Poor Yella” is still a rich theatrical experience.

Contact Karen D’Souza at karenpdsouza@yahoo.com.