W.Va. Playwright Explores Immigration, Family Histories, Asian American Identity On Stage

Next month, the Contemporary American Theater Festival returns to the campus of Shepherd University, bringing actors and creatives from across the country together to premiere five new productions.

Featured among them is the festival’s first play written by a West Virginian. Eastern Panhandle Reporter Jack Walker spoke with Marion County native Cody LeRoy Wilson about the production — plus his journey from rural West Virginia into the world of theater.

Listen to an extended version of this conversation below:

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Walker: Obviously, we are discussing your new production in the Contemporary American Theater Festival. But to begin, could you just speak to me a little about your background, where you’re from and how you got involved in theater and playwriting?

Wilson: Sure. My name is Cody Leroy Wilson. I hail from West Virginia, deep in a little holler called Plum Run, West Virginia. If I was going to give anybody actual cities that they’d be aware of, Fairmont, West Virginia is kind of where I went to middle school and high school.

High school is where I started becoming involved in theater. I had a friend who asked me if I wanted an easy A and I said yes. Then I took a theater class, and the history kind of wrote itself.

I attended West Virginia University, where I originally was an international studies major, and then ended up switching into theater. Then I started my acting career. In 2014 I moved to New York City, and I’ve kind of been on the audition circuit ever since.

As a playwright, I would say I’ve always written creatively. I think that that kind of started in high school with creative writing classes, but I had never really focused on full production of any kind. And then when I started writing this play, it turned into a combination of a lot of downtime in 2020 and people reinforcing that my family’s immigration story from Vietnam to West Virginia was worth telling on stage.

So, with the time that I had, I really sat down and started working on the script as a whole. It took me a few months to turn out a first full-length draft. After that, I started submitting it to festivals. In 2023, I got to do a reduced, 40-minute version with a company called the Pan Asian Repertory Theater in New York City. But then [CATF Artistic Director Peggy McKowen] contacted me, saying she’s had my script since 2023 on the back burner, waiting to do a full production of it. So now we’re doing the full-length, hour-plus [version].

I’m really excited to be there as a West Virginia native who’s also Vietnamese. I know it’s, like, a weird hybrid of two things. And being a representation of the Asian American community is just as strong as being a representation for the West Virginia community, because I feel like there’s a culture there that needs to be told that I’m lucky enough to experience, and finally, get a chance to really put it on stage.

Walker: Just to zoom out a little bit for any listeners who might not be familiar, you’re referring to your play — “Did My Grandfather Kill My Grandfather?” — which will be showing at the contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown in July and August.

I know this play pertains to your family history in West Virginia, [as] you brought up. What specifically is the play about, and how does it relate to your experience growing up in Appalachia?

Wilson: Absolutely. So the play really focuses on my investigation into my mother’s immigration story from Vietnam. It really turned into a storytelling of my family’s history, both in West Virginia and the hypothetical of what I could assume from Vietnam. My mother was adopted by an American soldier and brought to the states just a few weeks before the fall of Saigon. She was at an orphanage. We do not know how she ended up there. We don’t have any knowledge about her previous life. The only thing that we know is her Vietnamese name. Once my grandfather filed her paperwork and brought her back to the United States, the fall of Saigon happened, and coincidentally, any connection or information that we could have gotten is kind of severed.

Growing up in a household in rural West Virginia, where one of my grandparents’ children is Vietnamese, was an interesting ecosystem. There was this unspoken rule where we just didn’t talk about it. It wasn’t necessary. It was part of our family dynamic, where we just loved and accepted one another. It was a fortunate circumstance that I got to be surrounded by so many accepting people.

But being in a smaller part of the world and being an Asian American came with its set of circumstances that were difficult. The play really follows not only my investigation into how my mom got here, but my investigation of, well, how did that affect me when I was this age? So there are different segments of my life. When I was a child, I found out that I was Asian American in kindergarten. Then, when I was in high school, it was the first time that anyone mentioned the Vietnam War to me, so any previous knowledge about heritage or anything was just never a thing. I was disconnected and disassociated from Asian culture, and my education around the Vietnam War was very one sided to American history, right? So the telling of that really affected me.

I get to college, and they ask me to check boxes that identify me as Asian American. But I never really felt it. I was raised in a white household, in a white community. There was no real Asian part about me. There’s a joke I make in the play where I dressed up as a ninja for like eight Halloweens. I thought I was right on the money, and that’s as far as my brain went. But then as I got to New York City as an adult and I started understanding the complexity of immigration. Not feeling like a minority anymore in New York City gave me a mirror that let me look at myself more intensely. That’s when I started learning about Vietnamese culture, learning about the Vietnam War, learning about the history of my people, [who I never really] considered “my people” for a long time because of our unique circumstances of being displaced. I’ve always felt absent of community. I never felt, frankly, white enough to fit in with most of my friends and family, but I also never really felt Asian enough to invest in Asian culture.

So when I was in college and there was like an Asian American Club, it’s like, “Oh, I can’t go to that. I’m only an American that happens to just be a little bit Asian.” So it’s been this really complex understanding of myself and learning how to love being Asian American and being at terms with what that means to me and to others. The play has now morphed itself into a larger message of inclusivity with Asian American communities, but also beyond that. I didn’t believe that my story was an every-man tale, but it’s been really kind of inspiring to watch people listen and then want to share their family story with me. So as it becomes more personal, it impacts more people.

Walker: Investigating these aspects of your identity and your experience that maybe haven’t always been put to the forefront… I’m just curious what it’s like, to challenge the silence that often surrounds these experiences.

Wilson: I think we’re reaching the point now, as a culture-scape, where I think the Asian American community specifically [is] emboldened now to a degree where they feel reinforced to tell their stories. A part of my big influence was learning that we can be loud and boisterous. Comedians like Ronnie Chen and Ali Wong, these are like inspirations to me, because when I heard them on stage, I went, “Oh, I don’t have to censor myself on stage. I actually get to just say what needs to be said.” And that’s been kind of like the awakening slowly for this.

Learn more about the Contemporary American Theater Festival and how to attend this year’s shows at the festival website.