The Things We Carry

The Things We Carry
50 years after the Vietnam War

Join us at the Riverside Courtyard on Tuesday 15 April for a special night of reflection about where we are now – 50 years after the end of the Vietnam War. A civil war that altered the course of world history, it radicalised young people everywhere and irrevocably changed the future of the Vietnamese. In the post-White Australia era of the mid-70s, more than 100,000 people fleeing Vietnam were eventually resettled by the Australian Government, and the communities founded by these refugees across the nation continue to evolve to this day.

Hosted by writer Sheila Ngoc Pham, the night will feature live music from Nostalgia, a local Vietnamese traditional music band, spoken word performances, storytelling and a panel discussion featuring poets Antoinette Luu and Annabella Luu, psychologist Chris Tran, and storyteller Thang Luong.

Please stay afterward for a light supper and to keep the conversation going.

Tuesday, 15 April 2025 / Doors open 6pm for a 6.30pm start
Riverside Theatres, Parramatta
General Admission Tickets: $15 (plus booking fee)
Light supper included. Drinks available from the bar.

COMMUNITY TIX OFFER
We are proud to offer a limited allocation of Community Tickets for this event as a way to celebrate our communities in Western Sydney and ensure art remains accessible for all. Should you find yourself requiring a ticket, please reach out to community@nationaltheatreofparramatta.com.au

TRUE WEST
The Things We Carry is proudly presented as part of National Theatre of Parramatta’s True West program, which supports and amplifies fresh voices. From creation to production, True West adds these vital stories to Australia’s cultural landscape. Supported by City of Parramatta, Creative Australia and Create NSW.

Like what you see? Stay up to date with what Sheila Ngọc Phạm is getting up to with National Theatre of Parramatta via email:

Image credit: Carolina Tangerina @casceru

Sheila Ngoc Pham

Sheila Ngoc Pham is a writer, editor, producer and curator. She has written for arts and cultural institutions and a wide range of literary and mainstream publications, and is the 2025 Imago Fellow at the State Library of NSW. Sheila is a contributing editor to the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network and has held editorial roles at the ABC, producing radio documentaries and stories. Her full-length radio features include the Tongue Tied and Fluent series (2019) (co-produced with Masako Fukui), The Lost Cinema of Tan Hiep (2016) and Saigon’s Wartime Beat (2012) – with her feature about Vietnam’s rock music history inspiring the mainstage play she is currently developing with support from National Theatre of Parramatta. She curated an exhibition of Đông Hồ paintings (2019) for the State Library of NSW, and most recently, MÌNH (2023) for Fairfield City Museum and Gallery. Her parents came to Australia as resettled refugees in 1980, eventually settling in Western Sydney in 1982.

Thang Dac Luong

Thang Dac Luong is a writer and lawyer, who was born during the Vietnam War. In June 1975, his family was one of first several hundred refugees to arrive in Sydney. He is inspired by his late father who was a jailed journalist during the war. His novella Refugee Wolf (Flying Pig Media, 2013) is inspired by The Three Little Pigs fairytale and his experience of facing racism. It’s a dystopian, allegorical comedy which satirises a society of excess and shows how it fears asylum seekers and refugees.

Annabella Luu

Annabella Quỳnh Luu is a Vietnamese-Australian writer, slam poet, and perennial student from southwestern Sydney. For Annabella, poetry is a way to access the tenderness of our hardened selves. Her work sustains an ongoing conversation between her cultural heritage and her experiences as a second-generation daughter of refugees living on Darug Land.

Annabella studies English, Creative Writing, and Screen Production at UNSW. Her family, friends, and writing community are the lifeblood and core audience for her writing. They have inspired her to learn Vietnamese. 

Annabella has performed her poetry at Sydney Opera House, the Museum of Contemporary Art, FCMG, Sydney Town Hall, Bankstown Poetry Slam, West-Side Poetry Slam, UNSW and most notably, in front of her dogs. She has published her writing in Platform 1 with Story Factory and featured on FBi Radio. She has also exhibited her visual artworks at AGNSW, Tweed Regional Gallery, and PYT Fairfield.

Antoinette Luu

Antoinette Luu is a Vietnamese-Australian writer practising in south-west Sydney. Her alchemic process of writing and editing reworks her cathartic scribbles into profound poetry, immortalising both her youth before it is over, and her culture before it is erased. She currently volunteers with the Bankstown Poetry Slam and was a three-time finalist at their National Youth Poetry Slam. At the University of New South Wales, she majors in English, Creative Writing, and Screen Production, and is an editor of the UNSWeetened literary journal.

Chris Tran
Chris Tran is a psychologist who supports people from immigrant families to improve their mental health, family relations, and intergenerational healing. His parents and extended family were refugees who fled Vietnam and settled in Western Sydney. He strives to give back to the communities that have nurtured him by helping community members gain independence and balance, so they can live their own lives. Through his work in NGOs and the public sector, he has also supported people with disabilities, parents, and organisations with making the changes they desire.