CH'ING-LISH at the Longacre Theatre

(Seen November 2011)


David Henry Hwang's new comedy is rooted in such realistic and truly funny wordplay that it is certainly the most enjoyable play of this season.  Although it has a more-or-less one-joke premise --- the inability of a meaningful translation, specifically, Chinese/English/Chinese, it sets up both a cultural and business back-story, and then carries the fun and personal mishaps to a logical and entertaining conclusion.

It has a small ensemble cast, led by Jennifer Lim, Gary Wilmes, and Stephen Pucci, who are top-notch comedic performers, seamlessly bringing out both the humor and the reality of the many personal entanglements.

Director Leigh Silverman doesn't miss a beat, and designer David Korins' simple multi-functional unit set serves the play well.  Hwang seems to be having fun with his audience, and the audience expresses its reciprocal feelings.

(Years ago, a rabbi-friend of mine said that all translation is interpretation.  Hwang's CH'ING-LISH appears to bear that out.)