Chinese Republicans (c) Joan Marcus
Theater: Chinese Republicans
At the Laura Pels Theatre
Every third Thursday of the month, the “Asian Babes Changing the Game” affinity group of the Friedman Wallace investment bank meet at an upscale Chinese restaurant to check in with each other (and I guess, theoretically, to change the game). The head of the group is the firm’s managing director, Ellen (Jennifer Ikeda), who is excited that her protégé Katie (Anna Zavelson) just got promoted and is on her way up the corporate ladder. Also at the lunch are Iris (Jully Lee), a software engineer whose work visa is about to run out, and the Alpha of the group, Phyllis (Jodi Long), who was the first Asian woman to become an executive in the field. At these lunches, sharing ideas quickly devolves into bitching sessions, especially about how they feel compartmentalized and how to stand out at work. When Katie arrives at the next lunch to announce she is being tapped for another position in the APAC market (which is why she is practicing her Mandarin with Duolingo), things start to get tense within the group. Although playwright Alex Lin provocatively calls her latest play, Chinese Republicans, the focus in Chey Yew’s adept production is mostly on how women navigate the tricky male world of corporate finance. There’s a lot of talk about being othered as Chinese as well, especially from Phyllis (Long is especially good with her acid-tongued observations), but the Republican part only plays a small part until Lin shakes things up midway through.
Chinese Republicans (c) Joan Marcus
I was very impressed with Lin’s earlier play from this season Laowang, and while I appreciated the ambition and scope of Chinese Republicans, the personal stakes of the earlier play seems to be overshadowed by the more dogmatic political arguments here. Ellen gets the most time to explore her past (her parents relied on her to translate) and her insecurities (Lin provides a surreal nightmare scene around language), Ikeda is equally good when we are sympathetic to Ellen’s problems but also horrified by her corporate shill-ness. Long seems to relish Phyllis’ bitchy side, but when things get all-too serious, she also gives her character a poignant dignity. Lee is the comic relief but also has some nice moments as a frustrated employee stuck in her situation. Zavelson is the standout here. She was so good a few seasons ago in the Encores production of The Light in the Piazza, and here she plays an overconfident millennial who may have to reconsider her life’s goals. The play’s designers (all of Asian descent) are at the top of their game, including Wilson Chin’s versatile set, spot-on costumes by Anita Yavich, dynamic lighting design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew and a skillful sound design and score by Fabian Obispo. Chinese Republicans may occasionally overreach in its ambitions, but it is still a fun ride that brings up thorny issues you will want to discuss over Chinatown turnip cakes or even croissants at Paris Baguette.
Mother Russia (c) HanJie Chow
Theater: Mother Russia
At Signature Theatre`
Mother Russia is Lauren Yee’s second play as a resident playwright for Signature Theatre (her first was the remarkable Cambodian Rock Band from a few seasons back) and it shares with that play her unique sense of irreverent and hip dialogue. It’s 1992 and Russia has entered a new period of capitalism after the fall of the Soviet Union. Evgeny (Adam Chanler-Berat) has returned to his hometown of St. Petersburg from Moscow to live and work for his gangster father, who goes around the city to offer “protection” to businesses, one of which is a bodega-like store run by his old friend Dmitri (Steven Boyer). But the store is just a front for his covert business of spying. His current (and only) client has asked him to bug and record the comings and goings of schoolteacher Katya (Rebecca Naomi Jones), whom Evgeny immediately recognizes as the former pop star defector who has returned from the west, back to Mother Russia. Speaking of which, the country is played (maybe embodied is a better word) by David Turner in a simple red dress and head scarf. Mother Russia speaks in a Russian accent (the other actors speak in American English) and humorously narrates the history of Russia amid the plot of the three until she finally interjects herself into the story late in the play. Yee keeps the action running smoothly, which balances nicely with the comedy (there’s a scene involving a Filet-o-Fish from McDonald’s that stands out), although the climax of the play feels a bit at sea with some metaphorical parallels with what’s going on in Russia that feel too much of a reach. All the actors do a good job, with Chanler-Berat especially impressive as a Russian unsure of how he is supposed to fit into this new era. But it’s Turner who steals the show as the titled character, being stoic, sarcastic and pragmatic in equal measure. At one point, Turner lists the highlights of Russia’s history like Billy Joel does in his song “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” The production, directed nicely by Teddy Bergman, accurately captures the mood of a nation with an uncertain future and a fire from the past still burning.
The Monsters (c) T. Charles Erickson
Theater: The Monsters
At New York City Center Stage II
The Monsters, Ngozi Anyanwu’s latest play at Manhattan Theatre Club, starts with a local Philly boxer known as The Monster (Okieriete Onaodowan) winning the championship belt and proudly hanging it on the wall. His personal success is soon undercut when he runs into his younger half-sister Lil (Aigner Mizzelle), whom Big (as she calls him) hasn’t seen in over fifteen years. This is an awkward reunion as they are basically strangers now, even though, as Anyanwu shows us in flashbacks to their childhood, they were once very close. It seems Big would like to let sleeping dogs lie. But, he starts up a relationship again with Lil, who has fallen on hard time, letting her stay with him and even teaching her a few boxing moves. As they get reacquainted, the past they would rather leave buried gets relitigated, including Big’s alcoholism and how he abandoned Lil to fend for herself from their abusive father. This guilt hangs over Big, especially when Lil starts to fight in some amateur matches and gains some notoriety, and his protective nature starts to clash with her ambition. I have always admired Anyanwu’s plays, especially Good Grief, and like that play, her empathy with her characters is her strongest asset, especially when imperfect characters do imperfect things. Anyanwu directed as well, and the show is very much her vision, as some of the character’s actions are nicely synchronized (the choreography is by Rickey Tripp, with Sijara Eubanks as the MMA consultant). Where the play goes feels a bit predictable, taking us through a familiar sports trope, but the actors are so good and so versatile that you still care about their relationship. Onaodowan gives Big a dignity despite not being the most verbally expressive, while Mizzelle’s character transformation is exciting to watch. The title, however, is a bit confusing. Do The Monsters refer to the siblings as they transform their trauma into fighting machines or is it the trauma itself? Not that she needs to spell it out for the audience, but the term “monsters” carries a lot of weight that I’m not sure this play can support.
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