Monday, August 06, 2012
Quantum Theatre stages The Golden Dragon on the water
Pittsburgh City Paper: Inside a small, ragged circle of oil drums, 5-gallon buckets and wire baskets, all perched on the concrete lip of a wide pond, five actors whirl, a cyclone of action. The cast of Quantum Theatre's production of The Golden Dragon is rehearsing to portray the harried, Asian-immigrant staff of a "Thai/Chinese/Vietnamese fast-food restaurant" — as well as a dozen other, mostly non-Asian, characters.
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6 comments:
The actors and design team for the The Golden Dragon undeniably made the play amazing. Although I admit I was a bit confused at first when the actors vocalized, "long pause," I was able to follow the story well. The location definitely added to the play as well and I couldn't imagine the Golden Dragon being performed at this standard elsewhere.
This production of "The Golden Dragon" was stunning, and a bit confusing, but none-the-less, captivating. The gender and age roles being reversed made the plot confusing, but it made you want to continue watching in order to understand. The fact that it was set on a lake added to the surreal concept of being in a kitchen and across the ocean, too.
I saw this show. It was amazing and used its watery environment effectively. I can not see this show being done anywhere else after this performance/rendition of it. as stated, the show was very Brechtian with its characters saying some their actions instead of performing them. The show's use of non-Asian actors to play an all Asian Character list was also Brechtian in that the actors were actors and not the characters. The use of the world as the actually world was very effective in bringing the audience into the busy world the show is set in and it adds to the chaotic nature of the play. All in all the show was very good, it was performed well, and there was hardly a thing to complain about. The play, in this context, worked.
I was lucky enough to get to go see the golden dragon last Wednesday, so I completely understand what this article is talking about. It mentions some of the things that I particularly liked about the show, but I don’t think it really gave the technical elements the justice they deserve. Since three of our teachers worked as designers for this show, I was paying special attention to those elements. One thing that I distinctly remember was Joe’s sound design. Since almost the entire piece was underscored by music, it became an extremely present, but effective addition to the story. I thought the use and repetition of sounds and music really helped to set the scene and draw the audience into the show. I also thought the water sounds in the journey home sequence were quite effective. One of the other things that caught my eye were Susan’s costume designs. They were simple but since each actor played so many different characters, they were very useful. I liked how many of the costumes had a subtle Asian influence, to bring out the context of the story, especially since none of the actors were Asian themselves. Overall I thought it was a great production and I would love to see it again.
I had the amazing fortune of being able to see the dress rehearsal of this show, and by far, all the elements in this article did nothing but help create a stronger story. The costume designs are brilliant, adding an easiness to the constant character/role changes while still keeping the sophistication of the "post-Brechtian style" of the show. The sound design was incredible and perfectly portrayed the feelings, emotions, and events transpiring in front of my eyes. The set design allowed a small enclosed space in the middle of a large stretch of walk-wayu while still keeping the spaced-out feel of the river. The entire show was a success in my opinion, and the location was perfect.
Having known the designers for this production, I am happy to hear only positive things about it. The concept of doing an entire show on the water sounded cool to me and I wish I had seen it with my classmates.
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