Full of talent: Diana Nguyen (right) with Fiona Chau in a recent comedy role. Picture: Ted Kloszynski
THE independence Diana Nguyen had craved for so long finally came when her traditional Vietnamese mother found a boy in her daughter's closet.
So at 18 years old, Nguyen found herself newly disowned and without a home.
"Even though I'd always wanted independence, I never thought it would be in that way," she remembers.
In some ways, it was a relief. As a child, Nguyen learnt piano and ballet and aspired to be a performer.
Her mother, Huong, thought it would eventually all take a back seat when her daughter finally decided to study medicine. But when Nguyen reached year 12, instead of choosing the subjects a future doctor would take, she decided to continue with the performing arts.
It was a frightful revelation for her mother, who still had trouble accepting why her daughter kept listening to Britney Spears.
Then she found Nguyen's boyfriend in the closet and things went downhill.
So before she had even finished her bachelor of arts at Monash University, Nguyen had already found the top five ways to disappoint her Vietnamese mother: be an actor, have no full-time job, fail to learn Vietnamese, have a boyfriend and get kicked out of home.
Like any good performer, Nguyen put all into a short story and eventually made two comedy shows out of it. Her third, Singing 5 ways to Disappoint Your Vietnamese Mother, will be held at the Melbourne Fringe Festival.
Nguyen's newest performance is aimed at expressing the newfound perspective she's had on the relationship with her mother.
"I just wanted to a show that shows my own discoveries of who my mother is and understanding where she's come from," she says.
"Our relationship's much more better as I'm getting older and she's seen the success I'm having.
"I think she's come to accept what I'm doing.
"I'm hoping that by doing this show, it just opens outlets for other people to talk about their own stories."
Although she eventually did want her daughter to come back home, Nguyen declined her mother's offer to move back into her old room
"Once you let a bird out, it's not going to come back. So that's what happened."
Singing 5 Ways to Disappoint Your Vietnamese Mother will be playing at the Melbourne Fringe Festival from September 26 at Chaplin Karaoke on 428 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne. Cost: $20, concessions available.
Details: melbournefringe.com.au or call 9660 9666.