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Past Reviews Regional Reviews: Seattle Chinglish Translates into Theatrical Magic Also see David's review of No Way to Treat a Lady
A married American businessman, Daniel Cavanaugh, recounts his experience in marketing his family's signage business in a small Chinese province. Cavanaugh engages the services of Peter Timms, a Brit living in China, to serve as his business consultant and translator. And though in the early meetings with Minister Cai Guoliang, Daniel begins to feel that a contract may be easy to land, he is ultimately cautioned not to take this at face value, by Vice Minister Xi Yan. Daniel and Xi Yan fall into a sexual relationship, but that relationship and others all seem to come with hidden agendas, both Eastern and Western. Director Annie Lareau seems at home with Hwang's style of writing, paces the play appropriately, and helps her cast create strong relations with one another that mine the truth in the humor of the piece. Evan Whitfield as Daniel neatly shows us how the road he travels leads him from an idealistic open book sort of guy to a hardened, more savvy businessman as he learns from his experiences in China. Kathy Hsieh brings a wonderful complexity and range to the role of Xi Yan. Guy Nelson as Peter is convincing as an Englishman whose house of cards comes tumbling down, and he handles his Chinese impeccably. Audrey Fan, Serin Ngai, and Moses Yim up the belly laugh quotient in smaller roles. Carey Wong and Burton Yuen's scenic design relies largely and successfully on sliding screens that frame the changes, and the signage which provides laughter on its own. The lighting design by Kori Hjelm is simple and effective, and Kelly McDonald's costumes have the ring of authenticity. A sound design by Harry Todd Jamieson and Jay Weinland is refreshingly modern sounding. Chinglish runs through March 29, 2015, at ArtsWest Playhouse, 4711 California Ave SW. For tickets or information contact the ArtsWest box office at 206-938-0339 or visit them online at www.artswest.org.
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