Review: Family, Fitting In and Fighting Against A Society That Sees Married White Men As The Pinnacle Is Examined In SINGLE ASIAN FEMALE

Saturday 17th February 2018, 8pm, Belvoir St Theatre

Michelle Law's SINGLE ASIAN FEMALE finally puts an underrepresented portion of society on the Australian stage with a witty presentation of the challenges faced by the non-white population and women in general. Calling out prejudices and misconceptions, this new work, which premiered in Brisbane in 2017, makes its Sydney debut to celebrate the start of Chinese New Year.

Law's new play centres on the women of the Wong family, mother Pearl (Hsiao-Ling Tang), a migrant from Hong Kong, who has called Australia home for 30 years, and her two daughters, 29 year old Zoe (Alex Lee) and 17 year old Mei (Courtney Stewart), both born and raised in Australia. The story follows Pearl's journey after her divorce from an abusive husband as she runs her Sunshine Coast restaurant and deals daughters rebelling against their heritage and wanting to succeed in a world that sees anyone that isn't Caucasian as second-class citizens.

Being of Asian descent, Law understands the challenges and prejudices that non-white Australian's face on a regular basis, from the cruelty of children, the restricted opportunities and the stereotyping and obnoxious attitudes and she has ensured that this is included in the work with an honesty which leads to laughs of recognition as well as cringing groans of judgement against the behaviour that Pearl, Zoe and Mei have to put up with from 'friends' and strangers. She expresses the migrant desire to be successful in their adopted home whilst their need to feel part of the community is challenged by a desire to retain a link to their culture and heritage. In addition to talking to the non-white population, Law's work also speaks to the female half of the population, presenting relatable moments where women have been told they aren't in control of their bodies, that something is wrong with them if they aren't settled and married by a certain age and that their main worth is in their sexuality.

SINGLE ASIAN FEMALE is generally a comedy but it also deals with weighty issues that threaten the Wong family and Director Claire Christian ensures that the balance of serious and silly is relatively even while continuing to provoke thought. Whilst for many shows, the response to humorous events is relatively uniform, it was interesting to note the varied responses throughout this work. For opening night, I could sense a different response from those that identified with the Wong family, Asians that had been subjected to the stereotyping and racism portrayed on stage, compared with others that had an uneasy laugh, acknowledging that they were given permission to laugh but still feeling uncomfortable as it felt wrong to laugh at the stereotyping and moments that would have caused the recipients of the comments pain, and finally those that seemed to respond without any constraint or acknowledgement that the experiences portrayed may have hurt people.

Set and costume designer Moe Assaad has created a detailed space for Pearl's Chinese restaurant and the family home situated upstairs. Linoleum floors and Chinese lanterns mark the restaurant, complete with a range of tables and a register counter complete with various good luck ornaments. A storeroom with boxes and enough space for a single mattress where Mei retreats from Zoe is delineated by timber struts and stairs lead up to the small bedrooms above the restaurant. Mei's cramped room is suitably covered with pictures of pop stars and friends whilst Pearl sleeps on a folding bed beneath a shrine to her elders. Lighting designer Keith Clark helps focus the attention on the appropriate space whilst adding mood as Pearl sits in the shadows of her bedroom room bearing heavy secrets and Zoe realises her life has been turned upside down whilst in the smallest room in the house.

Assaad has kept the costuming relatively simple for the most part as the family are contemporary Australians. Traditional cheongsam dresses naturally make an appearance for celebrations but for the most of the story the attire is relatively casual. Hilarious moments are Pearl's crazy ensemble to go to university and Mei's best friend, the anime obsessed Katie's (Emily Burton) outfits. School bully and frenemy Lana's (Lucy Heffernan) position as the 'normal' white kid that Mei longs to be is conveyed by her skin tight ripped jeans and tight top to go with the high ponytail of blonde hair.

As divorcee and single mother Pearl, Hsiao-Ling Tang delivers an endearing if a little stilted performance, right from the opening Karaoke to the heartbreaking revelations later in the work and a joyous ending. Much of Pearl's lines break the fourth wall and Tang delivers these monologues with passion and a delightful comic timing but she tends to retain this same tone of speech when in dialogue with her daughters which makes for a over earnest expression at times. Courtney Stewart captures the high school senior's typical teenage attitude brilliantly as she rebels against her background, wanting to fit in and not be teased for her Chinese food and Asian fashions. She shows the impulsive insensitivity common to youth uncomfortable with their place in the world even though she has a loyal friend who appreciates her background. Alex Lee is hilarious as the neurotic newly single Zoe, a young woman wanting to have her own independence and a career but continuously pipped at the post by men and white candidates and also navigating the murky waters of dating.

As Mei's friend Katie, Emily Burton is fabulous as the all things Asian obsessed teen who, unlike Mei, doesn't seem to care about being popular but supports Mei in her journey to fit in. She is easily likable and effervescent but ensures that she doesn't pull focus as she helps shape Mei's story. Her expression when Mei chooses to opt for popularity over loyalty is comic whilst eliciting sighs of sympathy from the audience. As troubled teen Lana and Claudia, Zoe's rival for the violin audition Lucy Heffernan represents the Caucasian characters that have tormented Pearl's daughters. Heffernan captures Claudia's snotty entitlement and white privilege as she passes judgement on Zoe's tardiness. She presents a perfect representation of the bullies who would befriend smarter kids with the sole aim of riding on their coat tails and using them to help pass classes. She captures Lana's self absorbed belief that she is better than Mei and Katie and that they should feel honoured that she is spending time with them whilst she constantly insults them. Burton and Heffernan's portrayal of Zoe's string of bad dates is hilarious if also a little uncomfortable as Law has accurately captured the creeps that see women as objects rather than intelligent beings. As Zoe's one-night stand Patrick Jhanur presents Paul with a sensitivity but also expressing elements of the typical masculinity, including the belief that they have a right to say what a woman does with their body.

Whilst having a universality with regards to expressing issues that all single women experience, the more important part of this work is that it puts the Asian or non white story on stage. SINGLE ASIAN FEMALE finally puts our stories on stage and calls out societies behaviour that still treats us as different and less worthy even though many of us have grown up here. Regardless of your background, this is a work that is suitable for all audiences. You will either relate, have moments of recognition or have moments of realisation about how we as a supposedly multicultural society treat each other and hopefully SINGLE ASIAN FEMALE will leave audiences with a desire to be more compassionate and have a greater humanity for each other whilst still being entertained.

SINGLE ASIAN FEMALE

Belvoir St Theatre

16 February - 25 March 2018

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