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Global Taxi Driver
Review by Neal Weaver
TeAda Productions & East West Players
Through March 29
The program describes Global Taxi Driver as “a devised ensemble theatre work” written and directed by Leilani Chan, and co-created with Ova Saopeng, Shyamala Moorty, and the TeAda Ensemble, a social activist company (significantly one of its staff members is designated as a community organizer), dedicated to expanding awareness of issues affecting underserved communities, through development and presentation of performances by people of color.
The show looks at the world through the eyes of taxi-drivers, and deals with a wide variety of issues, including the growing conflict between ride-sharing organizations and traditional taxi-drivers, the importance of cab-driving as an entry level job for new immigrants, the hazards of their profession (cited as one of the most dangerous in the U.S.), to dealing with high or drugged-out passengers, and the various kinds of every-day give-and-take between drivers and passengers around the world.
As the audience enters the theatre, we’re treated to a slide show featuring photographs of taxi-cabs from round the world, from NYC and Paris to Mogadishu, Cairo, and other exotic locales. There’s even a photo of Chicago’s water-taxis. When the show gets underway, we’re given a panoramic view of the way taxis operate in diverse communities, world-wide. There’s a preponderance of stories set in Minneapolis and Los Angeles, since the travelling TeAda company has mounted productions in both cities, but there are also forays into such places as Thailand and the Mekong Delta, Hawaii, and Alaska, among others.
It’s a fast-moving production, acted with verve and enthusiasm by an ensemble of six actors. The difficulty lies in the fact that the pace is so quick, and changes of locale so frequent, that it becomes a bit of a blur, and it’s hard to keep track of where we are and when. Most of the stories are presented as narrative tales, with few real, fully developed scenes. One high-point in the show is a vignette dealing with a taxi-driving black mother, known as Foxy Lady (Kenesha Hemmings), who must take along her small son (well-played by adult actor Ova Saopeng) when she’s on the job. One can’t help feeling that the piece over-all would profit by telling fewer stories and allowing them time, like this one, to develop.
Joshua R. Lamont plays a driver who is gunned down on the day he finally manages to buy his own cab. Shaan Dasani provides an amusing turn as a Somali driver on the look-out for a wife, who terrifies his passenger (Elyse Dinh) by insisting that she’s the one, whether she likes it or not. And Marcos Najera scores as a taxi-dispatcher, a giddy gay queen, and several other roles.
At its best, this piece is funny and provocative, but at its worst it plays like high-minded a public service announcement. TeAda’s heart is undeniably in the right place, but its dramaturgical skills would profit by some honing if it wants to present its message in an audience friendly fashion.
TeAda Productions & East West Players at The David Henry Wang Theatre, 120 N. Judge John Aiso Street, Dwntwn.; Thurs.-Fri, 8 p.m., Sat., 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m., though March 29. (310) 998-8765, www.teada.org
