Nikki Tran

Stage musical: Six days on a leaky boat

Set in Melbourne's western suburbs during the early 1980s, Nikki's stage musical centred on a Chinese-Vietnamese refugee family beginning their lives as new Australians after receiving their citizenship.

The matriarch, Phuong, eventually learns that in order to prevent her family from languishing under the enduring trauma of displacement, she must first open herself up to new people and new experiences.

Nikki's project drew on the experiences and memories of her family and friends who arrived in Australia as refugees from Vietnam. For Nikki, as a second-generation Australian, the project was not only an opportunity for her to personally reflect on her heritage and document a part of her family's history, but also to produce creative work that is accessible to a broader audience, adding to the multitude of Victorian and Australian narratives in an entertaining, emotive and recognisable form.

Nikki Tran is a writer, filmmaker and classically trained pianist, drawn to projects that combine genre with the Australian migrant experience in storytelling.

She is a member of the Footscray Community Arts Centre's West Writers group. Sidekicked, a Melbourne Fringe show produced and written with other West Writers, was awarded Best Words and Ideas at the 2017 Fringe Awards. In 2016, her short film screenplay When we run, set in post-war Vietnam, was a finalist in the BlueCat Screenplay Competition.

Nikki has a Bachelor of Media (Communication) from RMIT University, Master of Producing at the Victorian College of the Arts and AMEB AMusA in Piano.