Lost in Translation
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.