{"id":9350,"date":"2017-02-17T10:00:10","date_gmt":"2017-02-16T23:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-711166-2356953.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=9350"},"modified":"2017-02-17T09:45:52","modified_gmt":"2017-02-16T22:45:52","slug":"review-single-asian-female","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peril.com.au\/topics\/reviews\/review-single-asian-female\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Single Asian Female"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michelle Law\u2019s debut play ‘Single Asian Female’ is relatable in a way that few mainstream Australian theatre productions are: it addresses themes of culture loss, migrant family experiences, and racism\u2014both internal and external\u2014in middle-class white Australia.<\/p>\n

Pearl (Hsiao-Liang Tang), single mother of two, runs Sunshine Coast Chinese restaurant, Golden Phoenix. Her younger daughter, Mei (Courtney Stewart), is completing grade twelve while her eldest, Zoe (Alex Lee), pursues her career as a violinist.<\/p>\n

\"SAF4\"
Image by Dylan Evans<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Being one of the few Chinese kids at her school, and despite of the support of her best friend, Katie (Emily Burton), Mei deals with feelings of internalised racism as she tries to befriend cool-girl Lana (Emily Vascotto). This rejection of culture also manifests in the turbulence in Mei\u2019s relationship with her mother, who often misuses words and speaks\u00a0Chinglish, which Mei is embarrassed by.<\/p>\n

The play\u2019s strongest undercurrent is perhaps the theme of female relationships\u2014mothers, daughters, sisters, friends\u2014which the almost all-female cast showcase with nuance and intensity. There is only one male cast member\u2014Patrick Jhanur, who plays Paul\u2014an immigration lawyer and Zoe\u2019s one (or two)-night-stand.<\/p>\n

\"Women_SAF\"
Image by Dylan Evans<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Given that the two-hour play strives to encompass much of the migrant and second-generation experience, few of the many pertinent issues raised can be delved into with necessary depth. We are given a glimpse into the multi-faceted migrant, female narrative. However, the production is undoubtedly notable in its frank discussion of the current political climate, particularly Australia\u2019s (and much of the Western world\u2019s) perspective on immigration.<\/p>\n

Law breaks the emotional crescendo of the second act with well-timed comic relief\u2014although, throughout the play, this comic relief can often rely on Pearl\u2019s broken language. This then raises the question of audience, and to whom some of these jokes were tailored. However, Pearl does snap at her daughters when they critique her English: \u2018I speak three languages\u2014how many do you speak?\u2019<\/p>\n

\"SAF
Image by Dylan Evans<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

‘Single Asian Female’ is an accessible comedy that brings new and necessary perspective to Australian theatre, and is a promise that Australia can only go further and further in its critique of the migrant narrative.<\/p>\n

‘Single Asian Female’<\/a> is at the La Boite Theatre until March 4.<\/p>\n

BY\u00a0\/ Michelle Law<\/b>
\nDIRECTION\u00a0\/\u00a0Claire Christian<\/b>
\nCAST INCLUDES\u00a0\/\u00a0Hsiao-Ling Tang, Courtney Stewart, Alex Lee, Emily Burton, Patrick Jhanur <\/b>and Emily Vascotto<\/b>
\n<\/strong>SET DESIGN\u00a0\/\u00a0Moe Assaad<\/b>
\nLIGHTING DESIGN\u00a0\/\u00a0Keith Clark<\/strong>
\nCOMPOSITION & SOUND DESIGN\u00a0\/\u00a0Wil Hughes<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michelle Law\u2019s debut play ‘Single Asian Female’ is relatable in a way that few mainstream Australian theatre productions are: it addresses themes of culture loss, migrant family experiences, and racism\u2014both internal and external\u2014in middle-class white Australia. Pearl (Hsiao-Liang Tang), single mother of two, runs Sunshine Coast Chinese restaurant, Golden Phoenix. Her younger daughter, Mei (Courtney Stewart), is completing grade twelve while her eldest, Zoe (Alex Lee), pursues her career as a violinist. Being one of the few Chinese kids at her school, and despite of the support of her best friend, Katie (Emily Burton), Mei deals with feelings of internalised racism as she tries to befriend cool-girl Lana (Emily Vascotto). This rejection of culture also manifests in the turbulence in Mei\u2019s relationship with her mother, who often misuses words and speaks\u00a0Chinglish, which Mei is embarrassed by. The play\u2019s strongest undercurrent is perhaps the theme of female relationships\u2014mothers, daughters, sisters, friends\u2014which Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":620,"featured_media":9353,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[168],"tags":[42,204,827,869,880,1902,1921],"yoast_head":"\nReview: Single Asian Female - Peril magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/peril.com.au\/topics\/reviews\/review-single-asian-female\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: Single Asian Female - Peril magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Michelle Law\u2019s debut play ‘Single Asian Female’ is relatable in a way that few mainstream Australian theatre productions are: it addresses themes of culture loss, migrant family experiences, and racism\u2014both internal and external\u2014in middle-class white Australia. Pearl (Hsiao-Liang Tang), single mother of two, runs Sunshine Coast Chinese restaurant, Golden Phoenix. Her younger daughter, Mei (Courtney Stewart), is completing grade twelve while her eldest, Zoe (Alex Lee), pursues her career as a violinist. Being one of the few Chinese kids at her school, and despite of the support of her best friend, Katie (Emily Burton), Mei deals with feelings of internalised racism as she tries to befriend cool-girl Lana (Emily Vascotto). This rejection of culture also manifests in the turbulence in Mei\u2019s relationship with her mother, who often misuses words and speaks\u00a0Chinglish, which Mei is embarrassed by. 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