Review: YOU FOR ME FOR YOU is a Rich, Heart-Wrenching Play about Contrast and Sacrifice, at Portland Playhouse

In Mia Chung's YOU FOR ME FOR YOU, now in production at Portland Playhouse, trees have ears (literally), rice is a musical instrument, and bears can talk. And somehow it all makes as much sense as the modern world we live in. Or, perhaps, it's our modern world that makes no sense.

This rich and heart-wrenching play follows the completely different, but strangely parallel, journeys of two sisters attempting to escape from North Korea. But while Junhee makes it out and in some way that isn't explained finds her way to the United States, Minhee falls down a well and goes instead on a subconscious journey to find the husband and son she lost to the oppressive North Korean regime.

The play explores the stark contrasts between the two cultures, but also the universal experience of being lost. While Junhee learns to navigate a world and a language that are both completely foreign (and while we're on that subject, this is the most perfect depiction ever of what it feels like to learn a new language), Minhee struggles to adapt to the seemingly random and ever-changing rules of a bureaucracy beyond all imagining. It's also about sacrifice -- because every journey to something involves leave something else behind. And you can never go back...or can you?

Chung's script is like poetry -- at times, it's actual poetry -- and meticulously constructed. It's also totally unexpected. Although at the end I could look back and see the foreshadowing of what was to come, the story, and especially the ending, took me completely by surprise.

Standouts in the cast were Susan Hyon and Khanh Doan as Minhee and Junhee, respectively, and Nikki Weaver as Liz, the American everywoman (Drammy committee, take note).

But the key element in pulling off this play, which takes place in multiple locations -- some real, some surreal, and sometimes both at once -- is the design, particularly in a space as intimate as Portland Playhouse. In this case, the design team, including sound designer and performer Matt Wiens, scenic designer Curt Enderle, associate scenic designer Megan Wilkerson, and lighting designer Solomon Weisbard, went all out. A few highlights: the lighting (which was almost a character in itself), the moveable walls, and the way the scenes in the United States tear right through the center of everything (a symbol of American imperialism?). Aside from being a great play, it was also beautiful to watch.

YOU FOR ME FOR YOU will break your heart. Afterward, you'll want to go to a quiet place and be with someone you love for a while. But you'll also feel exhilarated, because you'll have been on a journey, and you'll know you probably just saw one of the best plays of the year.

YOU FOR ME FOR YOU runs through February 28. Buy tickets at http://www.portlandplayhouse.org/

Photo credit: Brud Giles

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