Review by Ron Fassler . . .
The title of Alex Lin’s new play, Chinese Republicans, which opened tonight at the Laura Pels Theatre, refers to a group of four Asian businesspeople who work at the same fictional global investment firm, Friedman Wallace (notice those two non-Asian names). The play’s title works because it conjures images of status and conservatism and tells a potential audience that hints of satire and social relevancy are on the menu. In that Ms. Lin has set her sights on four women at the firm, as opposed to men, she has created a piece that works on multiple levels of the self-interest and duplicity on display. And, after all, aren’t we tired of seeing this world of higher corporate shenanigans done to death starring men? How about giving women the chance to be equally treacherous? What develops under Chay Yew’s focused direction is a taut evening of inspired theatrics. If this quartet could be likened to a luxury car, they fire on all four cylinders.
The play mainly consists of a series of get togethers of a women’s “affinity group,” made of company employees who share office gossip as well as insider advice on how to stay one step ahead of the competition that is constantly yapping at their rears. The playwright has set things up so that the women really aren’t friends and simply colleagues who, by virtue of their race, deal with a variety of similar issues that force them to keep their heads in the game. Phyllis (Jodi Long), the oldest, has the highest title and most seniority. Sadly, her sharp tongue and foul mouth seem to have prevented her from developing genuine friendships inside or outside the office (she even savagely labels the affinity group a cult). Iris (Jully Lee), an immigrant from China on a work visa, is feeling the pressure that her job performance is directly tied to her ability to stay in America. Ellen (Jennifer Ikeda), the workaholic and the one most aggressively climbing the corporate ladder, is also mentoring the youngest member of the group, Kate (Anna Zavelson). Their mother-daughter dynamic is the core relationship of the play, one that twists and turns like a knife.
Wilson Chin’s turntable set allows for leaving the restaurant from time to time so, together with Yew, any staging issues are solved with efficiency. The power suits and other costumes are well designed by Anita Yavich and Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew’s lighting match the mood in each succeeding scene. The projection design by Kana Kim is also extremely effective, adding proper proportions of dramatic weight.
There’s the minor character of a waiter in the restaurant that seems superfluous, even if Ben Langhorst plays him well. He’s white and the butt of some jokes and doesn’t feel necessary to the proceedings. Being exposed solely to the four women might have made for a preferable device. It’s their world for ninety minutes and intruders are unwelcome. The sacrifices that Phyllis, Iris, Ellen, and Kate make that drive the action of the play are more than enough to earn our interest and our respect. The dialogue in the denouement between Ellen and Kate is as good as any scene between two women on the New York stage since Liberation closed last month.
“When you’re an adult, you have to pick. You have to compromise and make a decision,” shouts at Ellen in the final scene. Earlier, she had decried to Kate, “You can’t help others if you don’t help yourself.” As the narcissistic Ellen, Jennifer Ikeda is a powerhouse, trampling anything in her path to get her partnership. Anna Zavelson gives a lovely, understated performance as Kate, genuinely perplexed by the mixed signals she receives from the affinity group. Jully Lee conveys a wealth of emotional depth, emphasizing her natural Mandarin accent to convey Iris’s feelings of being forever outside the group. As Phyllis, Jodi Long makes it seem that though she may never attain the status that a white man probably would at the firm, nothing will stop her from making the best of an impossible situation. It’s a pleasure to see Long who I remember as far back as 1979 in Michael Weller’s Loose Ends, where she gave a wonderful performance. I also had the pleasure of seeing her act in plays during my freshman year at Purchase College when she was a senior. Hail to a fellow alumni!
Surprisingly, Chinese Republicans keeps politics to a minimum. What Lin is after is something else; something more personal than shooting fish in a barrel and scoring points against conservatism. Instead, she’s written a smart, sharp play that shows us women in the workplace, fighting the good fight and not always winning. Sad, but true, it’s a proper perspective on where we’re at in 2026.
Chinese Republicans is at the Laura Pels Theatre at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center, 111 W 46th Street, NYC. For ticket information, please click here:
Photos by Joan Marcus.
Headline photo: Jodi Long, Jennifer Ikeda, Anna Zavelson, and Jully Lee in Chinese Republicans.
