The Washington Post-Signatures delightful King of the Yees pulls you into its zaniness
September 25, 2023 3 min 611 words
《华盛顿邮报》的报道《签名喜剧：《Yees之王》将您带入其疯狂的世界》是对一部戏剧作品的精彩描述。该剧通过Signature Theatre的精彩演出，将我们带入了一个深刻而有趣的世界。在这个世界里，我们会遇到各种奇特的情节，如与威士忌有关的童话探险、引发功夫情感的新闻公告、像吴宇森的慢动作动作场面的FBI行动等等，这些情节如此令人愉快，以至于您几乎不愿回到现实门槛之外。 与此同时，这部2017年的作品，由广受欢迎的编剧Lauren Yee精彩执导，感人地探讨了身份、家庭和传承。Tanya Orellana精湛的舞台设计将传承主题置于首位：在悬挂的中国灯笼下，是上文提到的门，实际上是双门，陈旧而风化的红色，风格暗示着古老的中国建筑。 这一场景代表了旧金山唐人街的一个俱乐部，在这里，一个名叫Lauren Yee（Ashley D. Nguyen）的戏剧家正在排练一部关于她父亲Larry Yee的新戏。当Larry本人（Grant Chang）闯入排练现场，打乱了排练，引入了一场Lauren没有编写的狮子舞，她感到非常恼火。但当他失踪时，她在一个梦幻般的唐人街中拼命寻找他，她的探险让人想起了《爱丽丝漫游奇境记》和《幽灵收费站》，但其中还夹杂着《西贡小姐》的笑话和从天上掉下来的幸运饼干。 除了在打破第四道墙的瞬间注入温情之外，整个演员阵容都出色地表现了剧中的喜剧元素，包括关于演艺圈的闹剧和俏皮话。Nguyen的Lauren在这个角色中以完美的直男模式，散发出书呆子般的焦虑感，而Chang在Larry的宽容幽默中加入了脆弱感。其他三名演员似乎也非常享受扮演多个角色。Jacob Yeh在一个名叫Shrimp Boy的矫揉造作的黑帮分子中特别搞笑，Sylvia Kwan巧妙地扮演了诸如一个板着脸的酒水店老板之类的怪人。Nicholas Yenson作为Model Ancestor，一个Yee家的祖先，他古怪的21世纪举止与他的古董服装形成鲜明对比，非常搞笑。（Helen Q. Huang设计了机智的服装。） 许多幽默元素源于导演Jennifer Chang的执导，不管是在提到Shrimp Boy时闪烁的灯光，还是在FBI场景中夸张的表现风格。这是一种令人难以抗拒的“多多益善”的审美，其中既有Lauren和多彩的狮子舞生物表演传统的狮子舞动作，又有软鞋的跳舞。（Chua武术提供了狮子舞指导。） 在这个美妙的疯狂中，导演、Nguyen，尤其是Grant Chang，找到了父女关系的情感冲击，这让人想起Yee的戏剧作品《伟大的飞跃》和《柬埔寨摇滚乐队》（分别在Round House Theatre和Arena Stage上演），这些作品也涉及了家庭纽带。这里的父母与子女的主题与社区、传承和疏离的主题交织在一起，反映了归属感和非归属感所伴随的焦虑和责任。 “你只需要呼唤祖先来帮助这些门打开，”Larry在某一时刻保证Lauren。幸运的是，这个过程证明要复杂得多。这部由Lauren Yee编剧的《Yees之王》，由Jennifer Chang执导，助理导演Gregory Keng Strasser，灯光设计Minjoo Kim，音响设计和原创音乐Matthew M. Nielson，打斗编排Casey Kaleba。演出时间约2小时。票价40美元至93美元。10月22日结束，地点：Signature Theatre，4200 Campbell Ave.，阿灵顿。703-820-9771。sigtheatre.org。
2023-09-22T18:17:35.608Z
A shut door is a key plot point in Lauren Yee’s “King of the Yees,” but the Signature Theatre production draws us right in to the play’s profound yet funny world. The visions we encounter there — a fairy-tale quest involving whiskey, a kung fu-evoking news bulletin, an FBI operation that unfurls like a slow-motion John Woo thriller — are so delightfully quirky that you hardly want to cross back across the threshold.
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At the same time, the whimsy in this 2017 work by the widely produced Yee, as winningly staged by director Jennifer Chang, muses touchingly on identity, family and heritage. Tanya Orellana’s ebullient set places the heritage theme front and center: Beneath dangling Chinese lanterns stands the aforementioned door — actually, double doors, aged and weathered red, their style suggesting vintage Chinese architecture.
This scene represents a club in San Francisco’s Chinatown, where — a metatheatrical hall of mirrors here — a dramatist named Lauren Yee (Ashley D. Nguyen) is rehearsing a new play about her father, Larry Yee. When Larry himself (Grant Chang) barges in, derailing the rehearsal and introducing a lion dance that Lauren hasn’t scripted, she’s exasperated. But when he goes missing, she searches desperately for him through a phantasmagoric Chinatown, her quest recalling “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “The Phantom Tollbooth” but with “Miss Saigon” jokes and fortune cookies falling from the sky.
While infusing warmth into break-the-fourth-wall moments — we’re treated as the audience at the play-within-the play — the cast aces the show’s comedy, including slapstick and wisecracks about showbiz. In well-calibrated straight-man mode, Nguyen’s Lauren radiates nerdy anxiety, while Chang works vulnerability into Larry’s expansive good humor. The other three actors seem to have a blast as they role-juggle. Jacob Yeh is particularly hilarious as a swaggering gangster named Shrimp Boy, and Sylvia Kwan ably channels oddballs such as a surly liquor store owner. Nicholas Yenson is a riot as Model Ancestor, a Yee family ancestor whose mincing 21st-century mannerisms belie his antique garb. (Helen Q. Huang designed the witty costumes.)
Much humor stems from Jennifer Chang’s direction, be it the lights that flicker ominously when Shrimp Boy’s name is mentioned or the giddily over-the-top style of that FBI scene. It’s an irresistible more-is-more aesthetic, which has room for Lauren and the colorful lion-dance creature to pas-de-deux with both traditional lion-dance moves and soft-shoe. (Chua Martial Arts provided lion-dance coaching.)
Amid the delectable zaniness, the director, Nguyen and especially Grant Chang find the emotional charge in the father-daughter relationship, which recalls family bonds in Yee’s plays “The Great Leap” and “Cambodian Rock Band” (seen locally at Round House Theatre and Arena Stage, respectively). The parent-child motif here entwines with the themes of community, heritage and alienation — the anxiety and responsibility that come with both belonging and not belonging.
“All you gotta do is call on the ancestors to help these doors open up,” Larry assures Lauren at one point. Fortunately for us, the process turns out to be much more complicated.
King of the Yees, by Lauren Yee. Directed by Jennifer Chang; assistant director, Gregory Keng Strasser; lighting design, Minjoo Kim; sound design and original music, Matthew M. Nielson; fight choreography, Casey Kaleba. About 2 hours. $40-$93. Through Oct. 22 at Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. 703-820-9771. sigtheatre.org.