Review: Guest Reviewer Kym Vaitiekus Shares His Thoughts On WHITE PEARL

Tuesday March 15, 7.30 PM Wharf 1, Sydney Theatre Company

Guest Reviewer Kym Vaitiekus Shares His Thoughts On WHITE PEARL.

Anchuli Felicia King's work is a tour de force that explores themes of power, racism, feminism, beauty standards, consumerism and cultural diversity.

We follow a start-up company that ventures into the world of whitening creams, aimed at the various Asian markets. A controversial promotional video is virally leaked and the cluster foxtrot that follows bleeds desperation, survival tactics, deceit, heartaches and melodramatics.

This story, set in the cutthroat business world where personal lives are not left unscathed, is the vehicle for an exploration into the many perspectives of racism.

Director, Priscilla Jackman, has taken this stella cast and created a finely tuned, entertaining and thought-provoking work. Jackman has deftly marked all the beats with finesse. She handles the comic timing, dramatic tension and emotional moments masterfully.

Jackman's collaboration with designer Jeremy Allen just shines. Allen's set is clever and crisp. It is wonderfully laid out to present both simple and complex scenes. The media screen is perfectly placed and then later adds to the dramatic end. The toilet set may have had a blind spot for some of the audience but is clever in it's presentation and reveal.

Damien Cooper's lighting is superb and expertly supports the essence of the work. The two-way glass was perfectly lit and enriched the layers of each scene. Cooper's work also gave strength to the characters' moments and at times this created a device, so that the scene transitions disappeared. The media screen's level of luminesce worked well except when we were all watching a video piece. The screen seemed somewhat washed out.

Michael Toisuta's and Me-Lee Haywork's work as co- Composers and co-Sound Designers is dramatic and energetic. It sets the tone and pace with aplomb. The choice of songs, sublime.

This power house cast has created a ruthless, toxic and contradictory corporate culture. Manali Datar oozes as the career hungry boss that is passionate and merciless. Datar nails the role of Priya Singh. We ponder, is Singh racist or is she just using racism as a workplace device to manipulate and take control.

Nicole Milinkovic commands the role of Built Suttikul, as the self-assured, entitled woman who confidently runs her life. When Built is challenged, Milinkovic wonderfully portrays the various layers of this powerful character.

Shirong Wu embodies the role of Xiao Chen. Wu's performance utterly engages us on Chen's tortured journey and then at times, superbly accents a scene with just a look. These comic moments were gems.

Deborah An's strong performance gives us insights into her complex character of Soo-Jin Park. An gives this role perfectly timed gravatas.

Kaori Maeda-Judge is Ruki Minami, her performance is a joy to watch while we discover the complexities of her character. Maeda-Judge beautifully plays the delicate line between being reserved and clever.

Melissa Gan is the sassy, cheeky and upstart Sunny Lee. Gan epitomizes the impertinent role with prowess.

Stephen Madsen is superb as the manipulative, misogynous, male Marcel. Madsen masterful performance perfectly fits this jigsaw puzzle of a world that juggles survival, desperation, and circumstance.

King's script brilliantly serves us a witty, hilarious and insightful piece. The layers are complex, and I wondered if some of the nuances were missed by the audience. There were many laughs but not always together. A line that was so revealing to me did not instigate a response from others.

The beauty of this enjoyable, perfectly timed and slick script is that it leads to further exploration of it's themes.

The six women come from six different Asian countries. Do we read them as representing their induvial cultures, and as stereotypes, or do we purely see them as individuals with various backgrounds and personal beliefs.

How we read these characters can be analysed for our personal perspectives of racism. Have we been given permission to laugh at stereotypical characteristics? Or has the work created an heighten awareness so that we are laughing with King and not from an inherent bias belief.

Not only were insightful moments missed by the audience, there may have been times when they were scared to laugh. Another aspect when approaching rasism.

This work is an important piece in our current climate as we struggle to move towards a community that understands all of it's people.

The ending doesn't have a conclusion but a dramatic full stop. This is apt, as White Pearl gives us the multi-faceted dilemma, without handing out a possible solution. The full stop means we need to reflect and move on.

See this production for a hilarious, witty, dramatic, and energetic journey into the world of corporate culture, personal survival and the dangers of social media.

But you can go a step further to explore it's many perspectives on racism, feminism and the roller coaster rides of personal relationships. This production has it all.

Now Playing until April 23rd at STC.

https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/whats-on/productions/2022/white-pearl

Phot Credit: Phil Erbacher

To post a comment, you must register and login.