Playwright: David Henry Hwang. At: Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn. Phone: 312-443-3800;$25-$73. Runs through: July 24
In 2009, Aditi Brennan Kapil's Love Person asked its audiences to think in three languages simultaneouslyASL (American Sign Language), spoken English and written English. David Henry Hwang asks us to follow dialogue in only twoMandarin Chinese and American English, with surtitled translations from the first to the second projected near the actionreducing, but not eliminating, the frustrations inherent in cross-cultural confrontations. Still, if we are to appreciate the discomforts of the global relations that provide our play its theme, it's only fair that we share in the discomfort. Besides, aren't romantic comedies supposed to revel in giddy confusion?
Ah, but just because a play proposes two attractive people falling into bed together doesn't make it a romcom. We may begin with the typical east-meets-west dissonance and finish in lovers contented with their rewards, but not until Hwang has introduced some Confucian proverbs for our age: A disgrace in one country may prove an asset in another. Beware of idealizing the merely exotic or enigmatic. Those who cling nostalgically to the past often fare badly. This is wisdom refusing to elevate the values of one tribe over another. Romeo and Juliet may have eagerly offered to renounce their filial allegiances, but in Hwang's universe, nobody must sacrifice who they are in order to get what they wantwhat they really want, that is.
Playgoers anticipating the brain-aerobics of Hwang's currently-running Yellow Face will find Chinglish a far easier assignment. David Korins' revolving-door scenic design relocates us from boardroom to bedroom and points between with dazzling alacrity, and the agile and mostly bilingual cast assembled by director Leigh Silverman keeps the repartee animated and rapier-swift. Special commendations are due Jennifer Lim in the role of the Assistant Minister whose broken English is punctuated with the hesitations reflecting the multiple dimensions mandated by second-language diction, as well as Stephen Pucci, whose delivery encompasses not only fluent oratory in English and Chinese, but a heavy Australian accent imposed upon both.
It can be argued that all verbal discourse is a translative processwe are born hearing sounds, but only learn to talk later in life. Hwang explores the universal difficulties that follow this occurrence with an impish humor whose depth is as profound as his compassion for pilgrims lost in a wilderness of unfamiliar words.