Sunday, December 29, 2013

QUICK TAKE REVIEW By Beverly Creasey “Language is the Dress of Thought” (Samuel Johnson)



SONGS OF THE DRAGON FLYING TO HEAVEN by Young Jean Lee (@ Apollinaire Theatre through Jan. 11th) is performed in four languages — which means if you don’t speak Japanese, Chinese or Korean, you’re missing ¾ of the play. Even though I recognized one of the four languages as my own, it wasn’t enough to understand the thoughts in the extended narrative.

The English portion afforded me a limited idea of what was going on: Asian women are plenty resentful about the subservient role assigned to them by white men…and white people in love act like idiots. Any more than that was lost on me. (Lee has been lauded for her cutting edge scripts but I couldn’t find the edge in this one.)

However, in the spirit of the play, I offer the rest of my review in three languages:

Es tut mir leid, aber ohne das Verständnis, sind wir unter Wasser während den grössten Teil des Theaterstücks.

Je crois que l’auteur jouet un tour a toute la salle. (Je comprendre la plaisanterie mais le tour marche rapidement mal.)

Scherzacci non fanno una buona commedia.