Centre 42 » Chinglish https://centre42.sg Thu, 16 Dec 2021 10:08:35 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.30 CHINGLISH by Pangdemonium! Productions https://centre42.sg/chinglish-by-pangdemonium-2/ https://centre42.sg/chinglish-by-pangdemonium-2/#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2015 06:35:59 +0000 http://centre42.sg/?p=3824

“Lost in Translation”

Reviewer: Andre Joseph Theng
Performance: 10 October 2015

Chinglish is an excellent production let down by a mediocre script.

We have all been in that situation before, a case of two people of different cultures and who speak different languages meeting and the struggle to understand each other. Perhaps in the midst of the frustration and the miscommunication, hilarity ensues as each party puts the pieces together and improvises a meeting.

Such is the premise of Pangdemonium’s final production for the season. Chinglish is a play by American playwright David Henry Hwang and revolves around Daniel Cavanaugh (played by Daniel Jenkins), an American businessman who goes to China to market his sign-making company to Chinese government officials Minister Cai Guoliang (played by Adrian Pang) and Vice Minister Xi Yan (played by Oon Shu An). In the process of their conversations, a translator (played by Audrey Luo), frequently mangles her translations and attempts by Cavanaugh to communicate directly to the Chinese officials prove challenging. It was not just language that was an issue, but also that of understanding each other’s culture and business practices.

To be honest, I am running out of ways to describe Pangdemonium’s productions, many of which seem to follow a tried-and-tested formula. Yes, there are the occasional ones which stand out, but the majority of their productions seem to suffer from the fact that the script chosen was not a very good one in the first place. This is unfortunate considering the high standards of the productions – from the excellent acting (Adrian Pang speaks convincing Mandarin), to Eucien Chia’s very impressive set. Just as other Pangdemonium productions have received flak for inconsistent (American English) accent work, Oon sometimes struggles maintaining a consistent Mainland Chinese Mandarin accent.

Hwang’s script seems to essentialise the differences between America and China (see the “Asian” memes on the internet). The humour is entirely derived from the delivery of mistranslated lines and misunderstood remarks, and the characters lack depth. Especially bizarre is the character of played by Oon, who begins hostile to Cavanaugh, but then quickly enters into a romantic relationship with him. Thankfully, the show picks up in the second half, as motivations are explained and the point of the show made clearer. Yes I did read the script prior to the performance and even so, I feel that Pangdemonium has done the best they could with the material, providing comic timing and on-point delivery.

Regardless of the artistic merits of the production, Pangdemonium’s formula has been a downright commercial success, with tickets for the entire run sold out by the beginning of the run. Perhaps it is the marketing team who should receive the greatest credit for this production although they seem to have slightly oversold the show.

 

Do you have an opinion or comment about this post? Email us at info@centre42.sg.

 

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

CHINGLISH by Pangdemonium!
9 – 25 October 2015
Drama Centre Theatre

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Andre Joseph Theng is passionate about the intricacies of language, and reviewing allows him to combine his love for both theatre and writing.

 

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CHINGLISH by Pangdemonium! Productions https://centre42.sg/chinglish-by-pangdemonium/ https://centre42.sg/chinglish-by-pangdemonium/#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2015 06:30:08 +0000 http://centre42.sg/?p=3822

“Chinglish’s Mistranslations Test Preconceived Notions”

Reviewer: Isaac Tan
Performance: 15 October 2015

If one were to ask, “What is the central principle that China abides by?” It would not take long before someone replies, “关系 (guān xi).”

At its most benign, it refers to the cultivation of interpersonal relationships that is based on trust and mutual affection. At its most insidious, it refers to corruption and nepotism. If explaining the concept is difficult, dealing with it in a social context is nothing short of a minefield.

Playwright David Henry Hwang drops his main character, signage business owner Daniel Cavanaugh (Daniel Jenkins), into said minefield as he tries to land a business deal with the Chinese authorities. Hilarity ensues when he tries to navigate social mores and overcome the language barrier at the same time.

Like the hilariously mistranslated Chinglish signs, Hwang’s script plays to audience’s expectations by presenting the Chinese characters as stock characters. From the traditional Culture Minister Cai Guoliang (Adrian Pang) to the steely ambitious Vice Minister Xi Yan (Oon Shu An), one expects Cavanaugh and his business consultant, Peter Timms (Matt Grey), to use all their cunning to score that business deal.

However, the audience soon finds out that the Americans are not exactly angels and the intentions behind the Chinese are not as it seem. By playing to the audiences’ expectations and then subverting it, Chinglish tests one’s preconceived notions about other cultures.

Contrary to what Pangdemonium thinks, the play stops short of being transformative.

While Hwang is excellent with his word play that sparks uproarious laughter, he does not manage to get a grip on the unravelling of the characters’ intentions. The occasional revelatory monologues by Cavanaugh and Xi appear out of place and certain cultural differences, such as the interpretation of marriage, are underdeveloped.

Despite these flaws, the audience will not be demanding a refund in a variety of languages due to wonderful performances by the cast and brilliant designs by the creative team.

Daniel Jenkins excels as the earnest but naïve Cavanaugh as he probably got the most sympathy from the audience. Adrian Pang manages to nail the mannerisms of the old-fashioned and tad boorish Culture Minister Cai. Oon Shu An strikes a good balance by playing Vice Minister Xi with a keen sense of comic timing in her scenes with Jenkins while managing to evoke a slight sense of pathos as a woman struggling to do what is best for her future.

Matt Grey, along with Pang and Oon, must be commended for overcoming the difficulties of learning the Mandarin script in such a short time. His role as Timms, the foolishly ambitious professor turned “business consultant,” is a wonderful foil to Cai.

Audrey Luo as the various translators, or more accurately mis-translators, is a riot of laughs. Her performance is complemented by Guo Liang as Judge Xu Geming due to their palpable chemistry.

Set designer Eucien Chia marries form and aesthetics with a revolving stage and half of it is visible to the audience. This allows for a smooth scene transition as the crew can dress the set backstage. The tilted rectangular screens become a canvas for multimedia designer Brian Gothong Tan as he projects images traditional Chinese architecture onto them to signify a traditional Chinese restaurant. He also projects bustling street scenes to capture the gritty vibe of rising China. Tan must be commended for being able to capture the aesthetics of Chinese movies in the ending sequence.

Overall, Chinglish makes for an entertaining night out at the theatre and, for once, the audience can revel at being lost in translation.

 

Do you have an opinion or comment about this post? Email us at info@centre42.sg.

 

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

CHINGLISH by Pangdemonium!
9 – 25 October 2015
Drama Centre Theatre

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Isaac Tan is a current contributor to The Kent Ridge Common, an NUS publication, and an aspiring poet whose poems have appeared in Symbal, Eunoia Review, Eastlit, and Malaise Journal.

 

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