Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Theater Review: Chinglish


Stephen Pucci and Jennifer Lim. Photo: Michael McCabe
Humorous Look at Communication Glitches Uncovers Human Frailties Too
By Lauren Yarger
Miscommunications in language and love highlight Chinglish, a humorous offering from playwright David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly).

Ohio sign maker Daniel Cavanaugh (Gary Wilmes) heads to China to try to win a contract for making signs that will be needed at a newly constructed arts center. He thinks convincing officials to spend a little money now to avoid embarrassment later like that suffered by other cities who post incorrectly translated signs will take about a week, but that's not the first misunderstanding that he encounters.

He enlists the help of Peter Timms (Stephen Pucci), a Brit who teaches English and who passes himself off as a sort of consultant for the Chinese government. In a land where there is no justice, just predictable outcomes, it will take Cavanaugh at least eight weeks just to build relationships, Timms explains. He doesn't realize, however, that Cavanaugh will start a romantic relationship with Xi Yan (Jennifer Lim), vice minister of cultural affairs, which complicates negotiations as well as the couple's personal lives as they ponder their own unhappy marriages and experience a gap in communication with each other, even in bed.

"OK, I think what you said to me is really important," Cavanaugh says, but has to admit that he has no idea what it was. He also doesn't catch that the words Xi Yan speaks during their lovemaking are all about the frustration she feels with her husband. He finds himself falling in love, however, and plans to leave his wife.

Xi Yan's boss, Culture Minister Cai Guoliang (Larry Lei Zhang) opposes awarding the contract to Cavanaugh, though he indicates through a grossly inept (and riotously funny) translator Miss Qian (Angela Lin) that he s considering it. Communications between the players get even more muddied as it becomes obvious that Guilang may want to hide some nepotism, Timms might not have been clear about his standing with the government, Cavanugh's company might not be quite what he said and Xi Yan's ulterior motives might be to gain a promotion for her husband (Johnny Wu).

Hwang's nice character development and humorous dialogue create an interesting study of the clash of cultures as well as human frailty. Chinese dialogue is translated with the words projected on David Korins' fabulous modular set pieces that revolve and float together to construct various settings (Brian McDevitt, lighting design; Jeff Sugg and Shawn Duan, projection design). American-sounding music with Chinese lyrics (Darron I. West, sound design) is used between scene changes.

Some of the funniest moments come from a slide show where Cavanaugh displays examples of grossly mistranslated signs."To take notice of safe. The slippery are very crafty," is one way of warning about "slippery slopes ahead." One other thing that's not clear is why Wilmes delivers mist of his lines in full yell. It's almost like that joke where someone yells at someone speaking a foreign language in the hopes that volume will somehow supersede the inability to understand.

Overall, it's an enjoyable time at the theater, and the very sparse audience the day I attended was a surprise. Might be a good choice for easy tickets if you are wondering what to see over the holidays.

Catch Chinglish at the Longacre Theatre, 220 West 48th St., NYC. Discounted tickets are available by clicking here.

Christians might also like to know:
--Show posts a Mature advisory
--Language
--Sexual dialogue
--Sexual activity

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Our reviews are professional reviews written without a religious bias. At the end of them, you can find a listing of language, content or theological issues that Christians might want to know about when deciding which shows to see.

** Mature indicates that the show has posted an advisory because of content. Usually this means I would recommend no one under the age of 16 attend.

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

My Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists. Her play concept, "From Reel to Real: The Jennifer O'Neill Story" was presented as part of the League of professional Theatre Women's Julia's reading Room Series in New York. Shifting from reviewing to producing, Yarger owns Gracewell Productions, which produced the Table Reading Series at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT. She trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Intensive and other training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run. She was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She wrote reviews of Broadway and Off-Broadway theater (the only ones you can find in the US with an added Christian perspective) at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/.

She is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), an award-winning website featuring theater and arts news for the state. She was a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com. She previously served as theater reviewer for the Manchester Journal-Inquirer, Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp.com and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web.

She is a Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a former vice president and voting member of The Drama Desk.

She is a freelance writer and playwright (member Dramatists Guild of America). She is a member if the The Outer Critics Circle (producer of the annual awards ceremony) and a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, serving as Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter. Yarger was a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and served for nine years as the Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

Copyright

All material is copyright 2008- 2024 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

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Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.

Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.

Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.

Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.

Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.

Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.

Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.

Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.

Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.

Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.

Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Derogatory (category added Fall 2012) Language or circumstances where women or people of a certain race are referred to or treated in a negative and demeaning manner.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide, or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

Reviewing Policy

I receive free seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle. Journalistically, I provide an unbiased review and am under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows my readers want to know about I will purchase a ticket. If a personal friend is involved in a production, I'll let you know, but it won't influence a review. If I feel there is a conflict, I won't review their portion of the production.

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