A Review of Chinglish a new play By David Henry Hwang

In America we have laws and contracts so that we can create predictable outcomes. In China no such system exists but the same desire for predictable outcomes is there. That is what lies at the heart of guanxi- Vice Minister Xi, paraphrased.

In this day of technological ubiquity in entertainment, it is still The Theater (and books) that give me the greatest pleasure. I love plays: comedies, dramas, ancient, classic, contemporary, and musicals of all stripes as well. I love that plays are essentially staged and told the same as they were 2,000 years ago. The planks, the players, the audience, the ambiance.

But it is not often that I go to the theater with the anticipation of seeing my life, my profession and my experiences laid bare upon the stage.

So it was with David Henry Hwangs new play about cross-cultural misunderstanding, Chinglish. His best since his Tony Award winning M. Butterfly.

If you are in any way involved in doing business in/with China, if you are a Sinophile, if you have lived there or if you have spent any kind of time trying to navigate personal and business relationships in the Middle Kingdom then you will likely love this play as much as I did.

If you are clueless about China or know only what you read in the news the play will be just as satisfying because it is as much about how we interpret and define the meanings of honesty, love, ambition and most importantly, relationships, as it is about the incomprehensible aspects of language and culture between Western and Chinese people

This is a laugh out loud comedy with a deep and dramatic message at its heart.

Much of the play takes place in Mandarin with translations (and mistranslations) projected on the sets that marvelously recreate a Chinese hotel, office and home.

The character! s are al l people I have met and worked with. The attractive, whip smart, ambitious Party apparatchik, the smooth-talking, Manadarin-speaking, ex-pat consultant, the official who plays by the same corrupt rules as everyone else, the young, entitled princeling, the bad interpreters.

Chinglish is superbly acted, well written, well directed and the sets are near perfect. Jennifer Lim as Vice Minister Xi will almost certainly be nominated for a Tony as best female lead.

Seeing my early experiences, thoughts, feelings and confusion writ large upon the stage was like being in a dream where I am just landing in pre-WTO China again.

The central plot revolves around Daniel Cavanaugh (Gary Wilmes) trying to close a deal with the Guiyang Ministry of Culture to provide signs for the new Cultural Center. Vice Minister Xi appears to be Daniels adversary at first, but becomes an ally. I dont want to give anything away so it will have to suffice to say that a series of political, romantic, and business intrigues develop that all expose how cultural perception and norms are real and truth is really an abstract and that in China, not everyone (including foreigners attempting to reinvent themselves) or everything is as it seems.

The play is not perfect, there were some issues I had with the length (could have used a 20 minute trim), character depth (we needed more for a few) and a tendency to overly rely bang you over the head exposition but in the end it was funny, touching and a work of great human exposition.

CHINGLISH

By David Henry Hwang; directed by Leigh Silverman; sets by David Korins; costumes by Anita Yavich; lighting by Brian MacDevitt; sound by Darron L West; projections by Jeff Sugg and Shawn Duan; an Theater. At the Longacre Theater, 220 West 48th Street, Manhattan; (212) 239-6200; telecharge.com.Running time: 2 hours.

WITH: Jennifer Lim (Xi Yan), Gary Wilmes (Daniel Cavanaugh), Angela Lin (Miss Qian/Prosecutor Li), Christine Lin (Miss Zhao), Stephen Pucci (Peter Timms), Jo! hnny Wu (Bing/Judge Xu Geming) and Larry Lei Zhang (Minister Cai Guoliang).