We the Same

Inspired by a true story, we the same opens in 1979 Việt Nam, where six children and a mother become separated from their father and husband as they flee their homeland by boat. Against all odds, they survive pirate attacks, typhoons, and starvation, ending up shipwrecked on a desert island. Thirty-five years pass, and the mother at last shares heartfelt secrets and an unbelievable story with her daughter ... allowing the past to be escorted into the present.

Oscillating between humour, romance, and devastation, this powerful debut play explores the aftermath of the Vietnam War from a Vietnamese perspective. Its central threads tell of intergenerational healing, alienation and estrangement from peers, family relationships, and hope overcoming adversity.

Sangeeta Wylie is a Vancouver-based actor and writer with credits in film, television, and theatre. we the same premiered at Vancouver's The Cultch in 2021 and is her first full-length play. It received six Jessie Award nominations, winning two, and is on the curriculum at the University of Victoria's Department of Theatre. A fully trained dentist as well as artist, she regularly volunteers with non-profit health-care organizations in Vietnam and northern British Columbia.