Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Friday 22nd October 2021.
The action takes place in the Singapore headquarters of a very successful new cosmetics company run by a small group of young women, Clearday, makers of
White Pearl skin-whitening cream, for Asian women who think that their skin is too dark. They operate on the premise that all women have been conditioned by advertisers and the media to believe that, in some way, their looks are inadequate, and that they need help to improve their appearances.
This work, written by
Anchuli Felicia King, who also designed the ongoing series of informative projections, was produced by the
Sydney Theatre Company and Riverside's National Theatre of Parramatta, and directed by
Priscilla Jackman, who has her cast keep up a cracking pace
.
Everybody is in a flap, because their latest television commercial, aimed exclusively at the local Asian market, and not meant to be seen elsewhere, has turned up, before its release, on a French social media site, gone viral, and the politically correct, big wide world is highly critical. In it, they ridicule and denigrate a black woman; use White Pearl or you could turn into her. The ever-mounting total of views is projected on a screen at the rear, above the set, along with other significant information.
Their South Korean chemist, Soo-
Jin Park, played by Deborah An, initially insists that it is not going to be a problem as Asians will find it funny, until the West sees it, and the angry reactions mount rapidly. Racists agree with the video, but others, the majority, are extremely antagonistic.
As the magnitude of the problem sinks in, the team begins to come apart at the seams, each seeking to blame others to save themselves, looking for scapegoats, worrying about their jobs and, ultimately, their entire futures. Prison could well be a possibility. The company's founder, Pria Singh, a British educated Indian, played by Kristy Best, is trying to hold it all together. She relies on advice from her second in command, Sunny Lee, played by Cheryl Ho, a Chinese-Singaporean who insists on using the American idiom, peppering her speech with "dude" and "bro".
They decide to sacrifice Xiao Chen, played by Lin Yin, the Chinese woman who approved the new advertisement, and who spends a fair amount of the play in tears, mostly while hiding in the toilet. Also in their firing line is the Japanese recent recruit, Ruki Minami, played by Mayu Iwasaki.
Marcel Benoit, played by Matthew Pearce, is the manipulative, misogynistic stalker, the French ex-boyfriend of the independently wealthy Thai-American, Built Suttikul, played by Nicole Milinkovic.
Aside from some very fine individual characterisations, as each one endures their own rollercoaster ride through the minefield, there is also some very impressive ensemble work. There are laughs and tears, high comedy, and serious messages, as the script encompasses myriad social issues, from toxic corporate culture, to racism, to sexism, to unscrupulous advertising, to psychological manipulation, and to the dangers of social media.
The design is by Jeremy Allen, with lighting by
Damien Cooper, and compositions and sound by Michael and Me-Lee Hay Toisuta, all of which ads a great deal to the productions.
Poor sightlines from my seat, the sound of the excessively loud DJ spilling in from the nearby Elder Park, and an extended conversation between latecomers and ushers throughout the second scene, eliciting shushing from many members of the audience, detracted somewhat from the enjoyment of the evening, but the performance itself was faultless.
Photography, Philip Erbacher.
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