Using his art to process the pain and confusion of a heinous physical attack, the David Henry Hwang portrayed in the brilliantly comic musical is Gentle power remembers David Henry Hwang, who wrote the book and lyrics for the show.
Jeanine Tesori, Tony winner for Fun at home And Kimberly Akimbocomposed the melodic score and additional lyrics for the satire, which Hwang originally intended as a “reverse The King and I.“ The idea of how the M. Butterfly The author explained to the audience at the press evening that it was about having a Chinese come to America and how Anna in The King and I“teach an American ruler something important about civilizing his country.”
When the employees first started working, PerformanceIn the months leading up to the 2016 election, Hwang envisioned Hillary Clinton as the ruler, who would learn about gun violence. But then the fact that someone other than Clinton became president changed the course of the plot, as did the real-life violent attack Hwang suffered on her way home from the grocery store in Brooklyn in 2015.
The random stabbing, carried out by an uncaught perpetrator, coincided with a series of violent attacks on Asians across the city, and – not surprisingly – the incident became part of the fiction Hwang created at the time.
Developed for this Signature Theatre production, the blend of political satire, autobiography, musical fantasy and old-fashioned romance is bold and original, and delivered with verve and class in Ethan Heard’s superb production.
Steven Eng plays the fictional David Henry Hwang (DHH) with dry humor, if a little contrived. Producer Xue Xíng, well played by Daniel May, has commissioned him to write a Broadway-style musical highlighting the beauty of China and Chinese culture. The intention is to use the soft power of cultural diplomacy to inspire positive feelings toward China. But the author fails to see the vision.
In a fast-paced in privatestaged like a summit meeting between two nations over an office table, DHH concludes: “Perhaps America has nothing to learn from China.” Apart from insulting Xue Xíng, this statement also hits on an underlying premise of Gentle powerthat politics is plagued by intractability – the parties are too stubborn to stick to their positions to want to learn anything, even from their own mistakes.
However, DHH comes to after being stabbed by a stranger and passing out on the street. Lying there unconscious, he dreams of his dream musical, in which Xue Xíng comes to America with the ambition of performing a Chinese musical on Broadway, and eventually meets and falls in love with Hillary Clinton.
Grace Yoo portrays her beautifully and is a lovable HRC. Her campaign number “I’m With Her” is a spirited version of The Music ManOn “Ya Got Trouble,” Hill hula-hoops and spins plates with tireless, humane verve, which soon leads into the tender, romantic yearning of “It Just Takes Time,” a duet with Xíng.
Billy Bustamante’s choreography cheekily refers The King and I‘s “Shall We Dance” waltz, along with a West Side Story pas de deuxas the production makes references throughout to the classic musicals that inspired DHH’s fever dream.
Amid the couple’s unlikely affair and the script’s combination of cheesy comedy and sharp commentary, Hwang and Tesori paint a powerful portrait of these polarized times. From Hillary’s campaign rally at McDonald’s to the crowds of angry voters to clever jabs at the US electoral system and the Electoral College, Gentle power captures the often chaotic tenor of the political discourse in this country.
After Hillary loses the election, her voters all take off their rose-colored glasses and a new leader ushers in a harsh reality in which the American dream is being replaced by MAGA-fueled hatred and anti-Asian violence in the rousing hit “Good Guy with a Gun.”
But Yoo is nowhere as funny as in her role as post-election-losing Hillary, at home licking her wounds, or on a stroll dressed like a ’50s romantic heroine in “Happy Enough.” Yoo and May make a dynamic, complementary pair, supported by an ensemble cast that can coax big laughs out of small moments or gestures, like Nicholas Yenson as conservative curmudgeon Holden Caulfield or Chani Wereley in various roles.
Only in a few such moments does the troupe’s command of tone lapse, as in a serious spoken section of “Good Guy with a Gun.” Otherwise, the first-rate performances, the visual ingenuity – Chika Shimizu’s set, beautifully lit by Oliver Wason, is a real highlight – and the quick-witted book and songs convey Hwang’s deeply personal musical imagination with heart and accuracy about both Chinese and American culture.
You can learn a lot about our democratic electoral process by looking at how we screw it up. Or how other countries forgo the process altogether.
Gentle Power (★★★★☆) runs through Sept. 15 at the Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave. in Arlington, with AAPI Affinity Night on Aug. 20 and a Pride Night performance on Aug. 23. Tickets are $40-$105. Call 703-820-9771 or visit www.sigtheatre.org.
