Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Observing Western classics through specifically feminist lenses: Jeremy Tiang’s SALESMAN之死 and Caitlin George’s HELEN.

• By drediman
• October 17, 2023
• No Comments

Opening last night were a pair of new Off-Broadway plays, both of which happen to investigate Western classic through specifically feminist lenses – to fascinating (albeit at times uneven) results. Read on for my thoughts on them.

SALESMAN之死
Yangtze Repertory Theatre at the Connelly Theatre
Through October 28

Based on true events, Salesman之死 (RECOMMENDED) tells the story of playwright Arthur Miller’s 1983 visit to China to stage his seminal play Death of a Salesman — in Mandarin, to say the least. To be sure, there have been theatrical prescedents to such “lost in translation” East-meets-West tales — most potently in landmark music theatre works such as John Adams and Alice Goodman’s opera Nixon in China and Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s concept musical Pacific Overtures. Where Salesman之死 distinguishes itself, however, is in how it tells its story. By using an excellent all-Asian (a cue from the aforementioned Sondheim piece) and all-woman/non-binary cast, the production — it would seem — is a feminist response to the kind of toxic masculinity that’s prevalent in works like Death of a Salesman. And by appropriating a field that in the past has been dominated by White men, such casting symbolically recasts the balance of power in an empowering way. Also refreshing is the way the play doesn’t shy away from the use of Mandarin in the text (supplemented in performance by supertitles), bringing authenticity to the proceedings — as well as attracting an untapped Chinese-speaking community to the theater. The production has been directed by Michael Leibenluft, whose staging elegantly melds the layers and contrasting elements of Tiang’s ambitious play.

HELEN.
En Garde Arts and The SuperGeographics at La MaMa
Through October 29

Also opening last night just a few blocks away at La MaMa was En Garde Arts and The SuperGeographics’ production of Helen. (SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED) by Caitlin George. As with Salesman之死, George’s new play spins well-trodden material — in this case the circumstances surrounding Helen of Troy’s “abduction” and the ensuing violent chain of events it unleashes — particularly infusing a fierce feminist bent to Ancient Greek tales we all thought we knew. The adaptation is also notable for its insistently playful tone and manipulation of time and space. In my mind, the results of all the tampering are decidedly mixed. There’s no denying the young company’s unflagging energy and enthusiasm (particularly compelling is Constance Strickland who portrays the God of Chaos with deadpan mischief), and for the most part, they muster the intense focus needed to put over George’s stylized, rapid-fire dialogue. Less convincing, however, is the show’s central conceit of a Helen in a constant state of fleeing (Lanxing Fu, in an appropriately restless performance). And by leaning in on the slapstick comedy — no matter how amusing — the gravity of play’s events are largely ignored rather than meaningfully explored. Lastly, as directed by Violeta Picayo, the whole affair comes across more threadbare in a comedy sketch manner than sleekly theatrical.