So my friend, Erika Crane, was in a play called Ching Chong Chinaman. Obviously, when I heard the title, I knew I had to immediately go see it!!! She was nice enough to give me two free tickets, so my girl Dolly and I went in uber excitement.
In a nutshell, the play revolves around a Chinese-American family of four that cannot get in touch with their inner "Asian". Comedic trouble ensues when their computer gamer son enlists a 'study slave' from China named (tada) Ching Chong, to do his homework. It's not too long, before the mother engages in innocent romance that the family starts breaking down stereotypes and all the dark skeletons come out of the closet. Then you find it's not a typical Chinese family after all.
Among other things, there were themes of cultural isolation, the laughable Asian Minority Model, and the dark dysfunctional family that we all know too well.
I couldn't stop laughing hysterically. Especially when Erika had a scene kissing her co-star as an obsessed school girl and I almost died 'cause her husband (who is also my co-worker and friend) was sitting next to me and lifted his eyebrow just enough for me to laugh. Apparently I was the only one in the audience who squeeled. Yeah, a tad embarrassing when heads are turning around wondering if it was my first time seeing humans kiss!
To cut this blog post short, the moral of this is how wonderfully connected the play's plot was to the context of me, my life, and pretty much my blog. Also, I realized that I should really go see theater more often in general. If anyone gets a chance, go see a play at your local theater. Not just a major production like Nutcracker or Rent kind of deal....but one based on culture. Culture as in any kind of cultural connotation. You'll find it wasn't regrettable after all!
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