It is a story told in split-screen (er, split-stage?) about a Haitian immigrant, Joe who 20 years after meeting his future wife at Dulles Airport in Washington, DC and driving her cross country to his home in Portland, Oregon attempts to recreate the experience with adult daughter after her return from a year spent studying overseas in India. Some key notes. 1) Joe's marriage to Jenny was arranged through friends in Haiti and the road trip was the first time either had said much more than hello to one another. 2) Joe wants children; however, Jenny is barren. 3) Lucy, their daughter is adopted through a foreign adoption agency from an orphanage in India. 4) Jenny has left Joe some years prior to his staging of the re-enactment of the road trip with his daughter; although, they remain married. That pitch alone sounds both rich with possibility and challenge.
Structurally, I LOVE a play like this. Intriguing characters, but not too crazy, with a structure that bubbles over with potential. In execution, Yee created a compelling and delightful story with awkwardness, genuine humor, vulnerability, resilience, poignancy, and love. The actors grabbed the script by the horns and ran with it, each embodying a character whose moments seem to endlessly rise with each scene.
The set was conceptually interesting and functional for the needs of the production. It was also enhanced greatly by the accompaniment of lighting and technical effects. However, it was not up to the standards of the company. It's construction felt haphazard and cheap. This was especially noticeable in the wake of the set for the previous production which must have just broke the bank wide open.
Staged in 90 minutes with no intermission, I kind of planned my day around this. It's a sign of my approaching "curmudgeon-ly-ness" that when such an expectation is upended, it bothers me. The show was supposed to start at 2:00. At 2:05, the stage manager came before the audience and said, "Due to a minor technical problem, the start of today's production is going to be delayed. But I promise it will start by 2:20. If you have any problems with this, please see me at the counter in the lobby so we can make amends." Okay, kicks back my afternoon a little, but its "technical," so what can you do? Then 2:20 came and passed. Around 2:30 two young women entered the theater and took seats in the middle of the room. It's a small room--you can't sneak in. No sooner were they seated than the stage manager reappeared and ran her spiel about cell phones, bathrooms, etc and the show began.
There is a standard procedure around seating and the start of shows. You can hold the curtain for up to 5 minutes, but after that, late comers stand in the back and are seated between scenes. Now, if these young women were relatives of the Author, or associated with a local embassy, then just tell us. But don't call their inconvenient arrival a "technical problem". Everyone saw exactly what happened. There was a time when I was stuck on the beltway because of an accident and realized that I would be at best 20 minutes late, so I called from my car to let them know my situation and that would be unable to attend. The person on the phone didn't say, "Oh, no! We'll make up a story about technical problems and hold the curtain for you. Please, come."
I'm sure if they would have said, "We apologize. We have some special guests attending this performance and they have been delayed so we are going to hold the curtain for 15-20 minutes until they arrive. People would have been understanding--Hell, we'd probably applauded to welcome their arrival.
Joe and his daughter, Lucy (Surasree Das) setting out from DC on the same trip 20 years later.
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