AMWD
10-14-2004, 12:34 AM
http://www.asianmediawatchdog.com/whitegirl/wgreview.html
Homage to APIA community from Canada
by Colleen Eustice-Sakai
Pan Asian Repertory Theatre couldn't have picked a better time to bring Marty Chan's "Mom, Dad, I'm Living With A White Girl" from Canada. This year has been a turbulent one for the APIA community in many ways. This play addresses North American born (I cannot say US since the play itself takes place in Canada) Asian male's unique identity problems in an interracial relationship with some humorous twists.
The play shows the worst nightmares of anyone who got involved in interracial romance. How would my parents react? Every time each character's emotions run high, all four characters morph into fantasy characters. The "real" characters are Mark Gee (Pun Bandhu), Sally Davis (Mary Kickel), Kim Gee (Henry "the guy who got beat up at The Sopranos" Yuk) and Li Fen Gee (Bea Soong). Their "fantasy counterparts" are Agent Banana (Bandhu), Snow Princess (Kickel), The Henchman (Yuk) and Yellow Claw (Soong). The fantasy scenes are from the Yellow Claw, "a satire on the racist movie series about a Chinese overlord trying to invade the West" (Chan). The way Chan incorporated these two stories is brilliant, almost reminiscent of Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize winning play, "Angels In America". Director Ron Nakahara, the acting ensemble, percussionist Shigeko Suga (with some funny bits in her native Japanese) and the lighting designer, James P.Primm II, crisply staged the transformation between these two.
The acting is solid. Mr. Bandhu and Ms. Kickel showed good chemistry as the tortured AM/WF interracial couple and as fantasy agents who are out to stop the Chinese overlord from ruling the world. Mr. Yuk and Ms. Soong are equally believable as parents who are about to lose their son to their adopted homeland (and the son's homeland) and as the Chinese overlords. Ms. Soong's magic on stage was especially impressive.
I have only two complaints. One is the ending, which was disappointing. You do not see this type of cutting edge interracial romance story too often. I personally feel that Mr. Chan could have given a different ending to this. My other disappointment was with the food props. I can understand that staging is supposed to be stylized but it probably would have been visually less distracting if these four characters had been eating real food on stage.
Finally, if you are not familiar with what happened with APIA community this year, jokes about Banzai and Details will be lost on you. (The writer made some delightful updates on the script as if to pay homage to APIA community.) Ms. Kickel says, “I'll get you a pair of Evisu jeans to show off your bonsai butt and a razor to keep your chest sashimi smooth.” If you don't understand what she is talking about, don't forget to check the Details page (http://www.asianmediawatchdog.com/detail/detail.html) of our website before you go see this play!
Perfect date item for AM/WF couple, obviously. But this cutting edge play should be entertaining for anyone.
edited: removed duplicated paragraph. -kitty.
Homage to APIA community from Canada
by Colleen Eustice-Sakai
Pan Asian Repertory Theatre couldn't have picked a better time to bring Marty Chan's "Mom, Dad, I'm Living With A White Girl" from Canada. This year has been a turbulent one for the APIA community in many ways. This play addresses North American born (I cannot say US since the play itself takes place in Canada) Asian male's unique identity problems in an interracial relationship with some humorous twists.
The play shows the worst nightmares of anyone who got involved in interracial romance. How would my parents react? Every time each character's emotions run high, all four characters morph into fantasy characters. The "real" characters are Mark Gee (Pun Bandhu), Sally Davis (Mary Kickel), Kim Gee (Henry "the guy who got beat up at The Sopranos" Yuk) and Li Fen Gee (Bea Soong). Their "fantasy counterparts" are Agent Banana (Bandhu), Snow Princess (Kickel), The Henchman (Yuk) and Yellow Claw (Soong). The fantasy scenes are from the Yellow Claw, "a satire on the racist movie series about a Chinese overlord trying to invade the West" (Chan). The way Chan incorporated these two stories is brilliant, almost reminiscent of Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize winning play, "Angels In America". Director Ron Nakahara, the acting ensemble, percussionist Shigeko Suga (with some funny bits in her native Japanese) and the lighting designer, James P.Primm II, crisply staged the transformation between these two.
The acting is solid. Mr. Bandhu and Ms. Kickel showed good chemistry as the tortured AM/WF interracial couple and as fantasy agents who are out to stop the Chinese overlord from ruling the world. Mr. Yuk and Ms. Soong are equally believable as parents who are about to lose their son to their adopted homeland (and the son's homeland) and as the Chinese overlords. Ms. Soong's magic on stage was especially impressive.
I have only two complaints. One is the ending, which was disappointing. You do not see this type of cutting edge interracial romance story too often. I personally feel that Mr. Chan could have given a different ending to this. My other disappointment was with the food props. I can understand that staging is supposed to be stylized but it probably would have been visually less distracting if these four characters had been eating real food on stage.
Finally, if you are not familiar with what happened with APIA community this year, jokes about Banzai and Details will be lost on you. (The writer made some delightful updates on the script as if to pay homage to APIA community.) Ms. Kickel says, “I'll get you a pair of Evisu jeans to show off your bonsai butt and a razor to keep your chest sashimi smooth.” If you don't understand what she is talking about, don't forget to check the Details page (http://www.asianmediawatchdog.com/detail/detail.html) of our website before you go see this play!
Perfect date item for AM/WF couple, obviously. But this cutting edge play should be entertaining for anyone.
edited: removed duplicated paragraph. -kitty.