The Chinese Lady at Open Eye Theatre

For a show that runs only about 75 to 80 minutes playwright Lloyd Suh packs a lot of generational trauma into a two character one location play that spans nearly two centuries. Sumptuously designed, lit and costumed, the only thing that outshines the look of this production are the performances by it’s two stars Katie Bradley and Michael Sung Ho. What begins with humor ends in grief, for the characters as well as the audience. That’s not a bad thing, it speaks to the versatility and power of the piece. It does that wonderful thing that the best theater is capable of, it creates empathy. It gives voice to the history of Asian Americans that is at once unfamiliar but also all too familiar. Open Eye Theatre earns its name with this show, it’s an eye opening experience, and one I’m grateful to have witnessed.

Throughout our history we see the way that those with a different skin color or cultural background have been treated. Using Afong Moy, a real Chinese girl sold by her father to an import company at fourteen, Suh is able to trace the history of the Chinese who came to the United States like so many others looking for a land of opportunity only to find a land of the free and the white. We are introduced to Afong Moy by her interpreter Atung, he as Moy tells us and he agrees, is irrelevant. Moy is fourteen and the first Chinese woman to immigrate to the United States. She is all wide eyed and curious and feels honored to be on display for the American people to learn about her culture. She describes her duties at the beginning of the hour sitting in a room surrounded by objects from China, she does not move or speak. At one point Atung will bring in a tray so that people can watch her eat with chopsticks and drink tea. Then she will get up and walk in a circle around the room, so those who have paid to see her can look at her feet which are tiny having been bound. Although I doubt there are many in the audience who hadn’t picked up on the implications of this existence, it isn’t until Moy cheerfully describes the process of foot binding she underwent at four years old that we really get a sense of how dark the script may get. In the beginning in 1836 at 14, Moy plays the unreliable narrator leaving us with our knowledge of history and the world to see things for what they really are. By the end in 2023 she is 201 and tells us the reality opening our eyes. Though this story is specifically that of Chinese Americans, for any BIPOC American the broad strokes will resonate and speak to their own generational trauma. Because it’s the same story over and over throughout history whether you are indigenous Americans, Black, Chinese, Japanese.

Katie Bradley as Afong Moy and Michael Sung Ho as Atung begin the show with a satirical edge and direct to the audience performances that belays the power they will both bring later in the show. Katie Bradley comes across as in control but naive at the beginning with Michael Sung Ho playing the subservient, only to later reveal he has the upper hand as she cannot speak English and so his interpretations can be whatever he wants to have her say. It’s playful at the start, but as the show progresses, so do their performances. Ho has a fiery speech where he recounts a dream and in it his true anger and fears come out, it’s a gripping moment that preludes a withdrawal and resignation to his fate as basically a slave to the Chinese Lady Show. Bradley’s transformation as all upwards from naive to passionate about what transpired between 1836 and 2023. The pain and anger are palpable, its an actor giving over her voice to a long dead woman so she can at last share her truth and her pain.

Eric Sharp makes his directorial debut with The Chinese Lady and based on this show I hope to continue seeing him direct as well as perform. The costumes designed by Matt LeFebvre are elegant and fit with the overall design work by Joel Sass (set and props) and Emma Gustafson (Wig and Makeup). I really felt that the lighting design by Kathy Maxwell added so much to the mood and tone of the show. Open eye has such a small stage area but that must lend itself to very precise and effective lighting, everything is very controlled and purposeful even the final fade to black feels like more of a statement than a show ending. The Chinese Lady runs through September 24th at Open eye Theatre in Minneapolis for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.openeyetheatre.org/

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