Friday, January 20, 2017
Made in China: Review and Pics of Bawdy Political Puppetry
New York Theater: Wakka Wakka, the theater company behind Made in China, says the show is “inspired by true events.” I suspect the true part doesn’t include Mary and her neighbor getting sucked down her toilet and winding up in the People’s Republic of China, where a dragon eats them.
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5 comments:
This show looks hilarious! I love all of the design aspects of this show, it looks like it’s a very quick and action-packed event. I’ll admit that the source content maybe isn’t the most humorous out there, but this show is clearly able to laugh at itself. The article states: “This puppet musical – equal parts surreal fantasy, bawdy romantic comedy, barbed political satire, and hilariously inventive visual spectacle — does include at least one true event, sort of”. Everything from the over-sized heads of the actors to their acrobatic movements suggests that this show isn’t meant to be taken seriously. It’d be a shame if Trump ruins all of our connections with the Chinese film and theatre industry, because this show looks like a blast and I’d like to see it if it comes to America. Seriously, I really want to see this show, let’s hope the Trump administration doesn’t screw this up.
I’m…confused, to say the least. This show looks entertaining, and I’m sure it is, but I hesitate to call it a comedy in my eyes. Perhaps I’m being a sensitive American-born-Chinese, but I find the preview of this play to be very exaggerated, with the bamboo and the dragon and the “true events” claim, and almost feel like a lot of the humor also comes from overdone East-Asian stereotypes. I think there is some genius in the use of the puppets, but puppetry is also a very common and traditional form of entertainment in China. I am usually one who finds enjoyment in many of the stereotyped parts of Chinese culture since they are all essentially true, but symbols like dragons are parts of China’s tradition and history, a history that goes back thousands of years. I feel like it is relatively disrespectful to make fun of such culturally significant symbols. I would compare it to making jokes out of the bald eagle and America, but that bird does not hold nearly as much weight in American culture than the dragon does in Chinese culture in my opinion.
This play so fascinating. I can’t believe that someone took this true event, getting a letter asking for help inside a shoe, and created it into a surrealist musical. I was so interested that I read the longer review and after reading it I hope that I could see this show. I would be interested to know how much of the original story was kept for the show, since as though the playwright went in a different direction. However, this is such an amazing story that I could see someone's mind running with the idea and creating their own version. It’s a shame, that in the larger DC Theater scene article they say that the storyline is not coherent. Despite giving it a positive review, saying that they story line of Made In China doesn’t make sense, is slightly upsetting as there is so much potential with a story of this caliber. Nonetheless, I hope that I can see Made in China for myself so that I can judge it for myself.
This show looks like something I have never seen before, which makes me very curious about the production side of it. The written play itself seems entertaining, but I am not sure what it would be like to sit through. At first glance I did not think this show would be very good, but taking a second look, the message that they seem to be giving the audience looks genuine. Shows that have genuine meaning but are not overly emotional seem to be the easiest to watch for most audience members. The audience does not have to drain themselves emotionally, but they still leave with the effect of the show. I also enjoy the fact that this show seems so different from what I typically see. I enjoy seeing theatre that is outside of the box and this show seems to be just that. The use of puppets, especially with the China based culture, seems to work very well with the story line. I would like to see this show, and see how it does live standing on its own.
I would love to see this musical. This is definitely a style of theatre that I think would appeal to me. I'm the type of person that deals with some of the harshest situations in life with a shot of humor. It's a very effective way of sending a strong, impactful message without making audience members feel overwhelmed by the topic at hand. It's the type of satire that makes shows like Avenue Q so successful. Also, the use of puppets as storytelling devices can usually make dicey subject matter a little easier to swallow. But there lies a responsibility on the part of the creators to handle these situations in a way that doesn't compromise the weight or importance of the topics addressed. Though all art is subjective, I believe, in a show like this, that the creative team has to be extremely careful to not get too lost in the humor and to stay grounded in whatever message they would like the audience to take away. Whether Made in China did this effectively or not, I can't comment on unless I see it for myself.
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