I had looked forward to David Henry Hwang’s Broadway play, “Chinglish,” with much anticipation and excitement. I loved DHH’s previous plays. And an Asian American play on Broadway! I certainly had never considered I might be disappointed. But disappointed I was and am.
I moved to New York City so I could have the opportunity to see Asian American theater, spoken word, art shows, etc on a regular basis. They are not an oddity here. It’s great. However, I’ve been disappointed twice lately. Yesterday I attended a performance at the Museum of Chinese in America— which turned out to be worse than a play reading— with long tables, a useless powerpoint show, and a long rendition of facts of 21st century wars in China. Really?
But back to Chinglish. I usually love David Henry Hwang. His play, “Yellow Face,” which I had the great fortune of catching just after moving to NYC in 2007 was absolutely fantabulous. Moving, touching, the characters revealed vulnerabilities of the writer himself and his struggles with his own family. Fast-moving and thought-provoking, it was deeply satisfying.
Chinglish was none of these. The play is about Chinese – U.S. business relations and focuses on an Ohioan businessman and his affair with a married Chinese woman. At some points I didn’t understand her definition of Chinese marriage myself with her broken English—loyalty and commitment while love was secondary, I believe it was. However, the first act was a teaser and by intermission I was sure deeper meaning in the characters’ relationships would explode to the surface and I would be wowed and blown away. And my BF, whom I brought, would see how great Asian American theater could be—this being his first.
Again, I was wrong.
I did like that the play was in mostly Chinese. That was a pleasant surprise. Also watching a play in Mandarin in the U.S. with English subtitles was a first. However, beyond the simple fact that the play was about Chinese people—but not Chinese Americans or Asian Americans—there wasn’t much I took away from it. Except that Chinese in China apparently look upon U.S. financial disasters and corruption like Enron with appreciation and even admiration??
