{"id":2589,"date":"2012-08-31T22:38:41","date_gmt":"2012-08-31T22:38:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=2589"},"modified":"2012-09-09T13:44:05","modified_gmt":"2012-09-09T13:44:05","slug":"chinglish-is-a-two-act-double-barreled-comic-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/chinglish-is-a-two-act-double-barreled-comic-winner\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Chinglish\u2019 is a two-act, double-barreled comic winner"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Michelle Krusiec and Alex Moggridge star in \u201cChinglish,\u201d a comedy at the Berkeley Rep. Photo, courtesy kevinberne.com<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s fast-paced.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a clever dismemberment of East-West cultural differences and the mind-muddles created by shoddy translation.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s consistently funny.<\/p>\n

The laughter starts even before \u201cChinglish\u201d \u2014 a two-act bilingual comedy at the Berkeley Rep \u2014 begins.<\/p>\n

Humdrum theater messages about shutting off cell phones and finding exits in case of emergency become a gigglefest by being simulcast incomprehensibly in Mandarin and English.<\/p>\n

Mostly, the show\u2019s hilarity doesn\u2019t translate well in a review \u2014 the best lines just don\u2019t work on paper.<\/p>\n

On stage and in context, though, hilarity is guaranteed.<\/p>\n

I guess you have to be there.<\/p>\n

As the play unfolds, playwright David Henry Hwang and director Leigh Silverman rarely wait for one chuckle to subside before beckoning the next. I sometimes felt as if I were witnessing a stand-up\u2019s jackhammer delivery rather than a two-hour production.<\/p>\n

Supertitle projections of mangled English translations \u2014 readable white letters against a gray backdrop \u2014 added a steady stream of chortles.<\/p>\n

The story, which underscores cultural, political and relationship gaps between citizens of the United States and China, focuses on an ineffectual American salesman and ex-Enron lackey (Daniel Cavanaugh, portrayed exquisitely by Alex Moggridge) who has traveled to Asia to lock up a game-changing contract for his family\u2019s sign-making business.<\/p>\n

He quickly becomes entangled with a sexy bureaucrat (Michelle Krusiec as Xi Yan), a British teacher masquerading as a consultant (Brian Nishii playing Peter), and a Communist minister trapped in a futile attempt to save face and freedom (Larry Lei Zhang as Cai).<\/p>\n

Krusiec foreshadows the verbal shenanigans that lie ahead when, following a torrent of English words, she declares in Mandarin, \u201cI didn\u2019t catch a word.\u201d<\/p>\n

He later offers a perfect parallel to define the farce: \u201cI don\u2019t have a clue what\u2019s really going on around here.\u201d<\/p>\n

One set piece, in which the enigmatic phrase \u201cthrough the back door\u201d repeatedly jumps out, is particularly engaging. Even more sidesplitting is an intercultural jumbled-word exchange reminiscent of the classic Abbott & Costello \u201cWho\u2019s on First\u201d routine.<\/p>\n

I also enjoyed watching Moggridge and Krusiec banter at length with a zero-sum understanding until, exhausted, they seemingly agree on a lone point and gleefully high-five each other.<\/p>\n

Massive miscommunications tend to retain a vise-like grip on the audience\u2019s funnybone. Such as when Moggridge tries to mumble \u201cI love you\u201d in Mandarin but it comes out, the third time around, as \u201cFrog loves to pee.\u201d<\/p>\n

The more serious shades of \u201cChinglish\u201d brought to my mind the real-life scandal revolving around Gu Kailai, wife of deposed political leader Bo Xilai. She was just given a two-year reprieve from the death penalty imposed for murdering a British businessman, and that is likely to be reduced to a life sentence.<\/p>\n

For the record, there\u2019s no reference in this play \u2014 which was written before the scandal erupted \u2014 to murder.<\/p>\n

But the 55-year-old, Los Angeles-born Hwang, who won a Tony for \u201cM. Butterfly\u201d and an Obie for \u201cYellow Face,\u201d obviously can \u201ckill\u201d at the box office. He just received a $200,000 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award for his body of solo work covering a 32-year span.<\/p>\n

For \u201cChinglish,\u201d on the other hand, he worked closely with a translator \u2014 because Hwang speaks only English.<\/p>\n

The show, a co-production with the South Coast Repertory, had a four-month Broadway run starting in October 2011. After playing in Costa Mesa next January, it will go to Hong Kong, where it will be a March festival entry.<\/p>\n

In Berkeley, revolving, beautifully designed sets by David Korins prove how rapidly locales can be switched.<\/p>\n

And basic-black, we-mean-business costumes by Anita Yavich are impeccably functional. Brilliantly contrasting is her outlandish garb for a male Chinese translator: white shoes and ostentatious argyle sweater.<\/p>\n

Sound by Darron L. West (particularly effective between scenes) and lighting by Brian MacDevitt (stretching from subtle to blinding) are both executed seamlessly and augment theatergoers\u2019 pleasure.<\/p>\n

\u201cChinglish\u201d has time to play with only a few of the 10,000 Chinese calligraphy characters that comprise the language. Despite that, the show\u2019s clearly a double-barreled winner.<\/p>\n

With that appraisal in mind, I\u2019m convinced you should seriously consider seeing it \u2014 twice, perhaps.<\/p>\n

\u201cChinglish\u201d plays at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre\u2018s Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison St., Berkeley, through Oct. 21. Night performances, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Wednesdays and Sundays, 7 p.m. Matinees, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, 2 p.m. Tickets: $14.50 to $99, subject to change, (510) 647-2949 or www.berkeleyrep.org.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  It\u2019s fast-paced. It\u2019s a clever dismemberment of East-West cultural differences and the mind-muddles created by shoddy translation. And it\u2019s consistently funny. The laughter starts even before \u201cChinglish\u201d \u2014 a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2589","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-woody-weingarten"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"