The Chinese Lady
Reviewed by Taylor Kass
Greenway Arts Alliance and Artists at Play
Through September 29
Her name is Afong Moy. She came to America in 1834, when she was 14 years old. She sits in a room at the museum, an exotic bird in a gilded cage, gawked at by hundreds of American spectators who have come to see the first Chinese woman to set foot on American soil. They stare at her face, her clothes, the way she walks with tiny bound feet, the way she eats with chopsticks. Her story has been all but forgotten, until now.
The Chinese Lady, an L.A. premiere presented by Greenway Arts Alliance and Artists at Play at Greenway Court Theatre, attempts to fill in the gaps in the real-life history of Afong Moy, who was sold by her family to East Asian traders and brought to America for the “edification and education” of the American public, many of whom had never seen a Chinese person before.
We see Afong Moy (Amy Shu) and her translator Atung (Trieu Tran) repeat Afong Moy’s performance over the years. As time passes, her sunny optimism about creating understanding between cultures turns to frustration and despair as she realizes that she and other Chinese Americans have been pushed to the fringes of society. This repetition of her experience throughout the play can feel monotonous, but perhaps that is the point. After all, Afong Moy repeats her performance daily for years, until she can no longer tell where her culture ends and the exhibit begins.
If playwright Lloyd Suh’s goal is to give voice to a historically voiceless figure, he doesn’t quite succeed. That’s because Shu’s highly-stylized performance is the only context in which we perceive Afong Moy — we never see the unfiltered feelings and desires behind her mask of fake smiles. By contrast, Afong Moy’s translator Atung has a stunning monologue in which he reveals his most personal dreams: his secret wish to be in the spotlight, his complicated feelings about white people, and his sexual attraction to Afong Moy. Just as Afong Moy is fetishized in the eyes of the white spectators, she is fetishized in the view of her closest friend. Even after her performing days are over, she is proscribed from becoming a fully realized person. Instead, she becomes a mouthpiece and a symbol for the countless untold horrors committed against Chinese Americans. At the end of The Chinese Lady, Afong Moy is still a mystery.
Greenway Court Theatre, 544 Fairfax Ave., West Hollywood; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 4 p.m.; through Sep. 29. www.GreenwayCourtTheatre.org. Running time: approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.
