A few weeks ago, my husband and I enjoyed (partly) a midweek night out in nearby Ashland. We had tickets to a modern play at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and decided to have dinner at one of our favorite small restaurants in town before the play. I’ve written about our experience at Wiley’s World in the past, but we hadn’t visited in almost a year. We were unaware that the place had changed hands back in October, but our first clue came when we saw the outside paint job had been toned down from the funky purple of the past to more muted shades. The former Wiley’s had a small dining room, mismatched tables and chairs, eclectic art on the walls and boasted a sort of ’70s, hippie vibe. The organic ingredients in the fabulous housemade pastas and sauces and the friendly, efficient service, though, made us repeat customers. New ownership changed the name to Wiley’s Trattoria, expanded and remodeled the dining room and added red-and-white checked tablecloths and photos of the Rat Pack and scenes from their movies on the walls. The menu promised that the dishes had not changed, so we were cautiously optimistic. Unfortunately, although there were perhaps only five other tables besides ours with guests, service was slow and none too sharp. Our portions seemed smaller than we recalled they had been, and we missed the casual efficiency of our former college servers. We’re debating whether we’ll return. The second half of the evening wiped away all the disappointment of the first half. We experienced a thoroughly enjoyable, enlightening, amusing and thought-provoking performance at OSF’s Thomas Theater, a black-box space with a relatively small capacity (270–360); it’s performance space flexibility and size ensures you’re never far from the stage. Vietgone by Qui Nguyen tells the story of the playwright’s parents’ escape from Saigon during its fall in 1975 and their resettlement in the United States as refugees. The audience members on this midweek night in early April appeared on average to be in their 60s or 70s, so I’m sure most found the era represented to be within their memory, and we appreciated the “soundtrack” playing before and during the performance of classic ’60s and ’70s rock. The five actors in the ensemble play a host of roles, both Vietnamese and Americans, and the use of language (some quite profane, so it’s not a show for youngsters) and even rap lyrics contrasts the self-aware and complicated characters of Quang (Qui’s father), Tong (his mother) and Huong (Tong’s mother) with the naive, sometimes clueless, sometimes aggressive  Americans they encounter as they try to find their place in a new land. It provided an interesting look at how such “displaced persons” see themselves (surely not as victims) and the strength and dreams they bear in order to not just survive but thrive in a new, sometimes hostile, home. We found the play’s themes particularly timely as our country debates how to address questions of immigrants and refugees, and it provided a lens through which we could consider the issues from the newcomers’ perspective. All of this was accomplished with great energy, humor and inventive staging by an extremely talented group of actors. I would urge anyone visiting the festival this year to see the show, and keep an eye out for Vietgone should it play in the future wherever you are. — Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor