Review: CHINGLISH - A Perfect Fusion of Mis-communicating Cultures Make for an Uproarious Theatrical Experience
By: Gil Kaan Sep. 17, 2015
CHINGLISH/by David Henry Hwang/directed by Jeff Liu/David Henry Hwang Theater at the Union Center for the Arts/thru October 11, 2015
For theatre aficionados of a razor-sharp, witty script performed by a spot-on bi-lingual-ish cast; run over to East West Players for their stunning production of David Henry Hwang's CHINGLISH. Jeff Liu directs his talented ensemble at a fast, but smooth and steady pace wringing all the possible laughs and heartstring tugs from Hwang's script.
Daniel (a most charismatic Matthew Jaeger) has come to China vying for the business deal of his lifetime. Daniel partners with Peter (a completely involving Jeff Locker) as his business consultant/mandarin translator.
CHINGLISH opens with Daniel giving a "How to be successful in China dealings" seminar speech. Jaegar's both charming and commanding as someone you might trust and actually follow in a 'how-to' seminar. Daniel's first dinner meeting with Peter's simply priceless with Daniel eating a Chinese delicacy way too hot for his palate. Fantastic comedy bit by Jaeger, egged on by Locker.
Soon Peter takes Daniel to meet with Minister Cai with the minister's translator Miss Qian and the Vice Minister Xi Yan. A good portion of the dialogue's in mandarin but, even better than in a subtitled foreign film, easily-read English translations get projected above the actors' heads. The subtitles of what's actually said totally, I mean totally, misconstrue the meaning of what the speaker intended. Too funny! And the misunderstandings keep piling on, resulting in even more misinterpretation. Wonderful scene by all!
Leann Lei delightfully spouts the perfectly bitchy, sometime nonsensical translations as the not quite qualified translator Miss Qian. Ben Wang as the omnipotent Minister Cai gets to show off his Peking Opera chops and moves partnering with Locker. Hysterical duet, those two!
And then there's the icy, but beautiful Vice Minister Xi Yan embodied by the very icy, very beautiful Kara Wang. When Wang's Xi Yan's glacial facade melts for Daniel, her Xi Yan's fiery hot. Jaegar and Wang ignite in their sensual chemistry and their almost innocent, language-barrier-ed flirtation.
In a subsequent meeting with Minister Cai, Cai uses a different translator as he sent his first, Miss Qian to re- education camp (Just kidding!). The replacement, Cai's nephew Bing (a marvelously bumbling Ewan Chung) provides even worst, though funny, translations. Joy Yao as Zhao, the last translator in a later conference seems the closest to being efficiently correct in her translations, but still guffaw-inducing.
Hana Sooyeon Kim deserves many kudos for her simplistically clean, double-level set and projection designs. Her projections include the aforementioned legible translations, the crowds and cityscapes of Guiyang, various brushwork paintings, the deep red walls of Daniel's hotelroom, and the scrolling lists of Chinese characters. The smooth, choreographed scene changes set to music proved un-intrusive as to not interrupt the flow of the action.
CHINGLISH - another fine addition to the East West Player's resumé.
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