Chinese Republicans Off-Broadway Reviews

Much of “Chinese Republicans” provides a deepening and ultimately poignant portrait of four distinct characters, made all the more palpable by a first-rate cast. At the same time, through subplots or brief scenes or just a throwaway line here or ...

Much of “Chinese Republicans” provides a deepening and ultimately poignant portrait of four distinct characters, made all the more palpable by a first-rate cast. At the same time, through subplots or brief scenes or just a throwaway line here or there, the play touches lightly on a bracingly wide range of topical issues – the corrupting nature of corporate culture, anti-Asian violence, the costs of assimilation, female camaraderie and competition, sexism and sexual harassment in the workplace, abortion, immigration anxiety.

The playwright’s most promising comedic idea doesn’t pan out, either. Specifically, the notion presented by the title, Chinese Republicans. Sounds intriguing, no? But no. One of those scattered plot lines has a disgruntled employee quitting, disc...

The playwright’s most promising comedic idea doesn’t pan out, either. Specifically, the notion presented by the title, Chinese Republicans. Sounds intriguing, no? But no. One of those scattered plot lines has a disgruntled employee quitting, discovering the works of Marx and Engels, lauding Teddy Roosevelt, and going on strike wearing a Ronald Reagan t-shirt. And then Lin and her characters and her play move on to something else.

Each woman has a unique perspective on life in the investment banking firm, but with tragically similar trajectories. Despite what they do have in common, however, the tensions between them swell until they explode in the final scene, an epic confron...

Each woman has a unique perspective on life in the investment banking firm, but with tragically similar trajectories. Despite what they do have in common, however, the tensions between them swell until they explode in the final scene, an epic confrontation that, nonetheless, doesn’t bring any real conclusion to the drama we just watched. But it’s not supposed to. Lin’s drama encompasses a question of identity that can have no answers, only different experiences.

With a title like Chinese Republicans, you're bound to wonder what the heck you're in for. But Alex Lin's new play at the Roundabout Theatre Company's Laura Pels is, in fact, about Chinese Republicans, a very specific sub-variety of them. And, for th...

With a title like Chinese Republicans, you're bound to wonder what the heck you're in for. But Alex Lin's new play at the Roundabout Theatre Company's Laura Pels is, in fact, about Chinese Republicans, a very specific sub-variety of them. And, for the most part, save a couple of regrettable playwrighting missteps, they're an engaging crew–the sort of people you don't normally encounter onstage and probably know little about.

The cast is consistently strong under Chay Yew’s direction, but I kept wishing that the characters and plot had been more deeply fleshed out so that we understood the message here. There are interesting ideas here, but Lin’s script at times seems...

The cast is consistently strong under Chay Yew’s direction, but I kept wishing that the characters and plot had been more deeply fleshed out so that we understood the message here. There are interesting ideas here, but Lin’s script at times seems undercooked and in other moments veers into spelling out ideas that would have more impact if they had been left unsaid.

For a satire, “Chinese Republicans” is told disappointingly straight. Stiffly mounted, it doesn’t fully explore its own extremes, especially in Ellen’s swings of behavior and belief. The formation and dynamics of a group of true “Chinese Re...

For a satire, “Chinese Republicans” is told disappointingly straight. Stiffly mounted, it doesn’t fully explore its own extremes, especially in Ellen’s swings of behavior and belief. The formation and dynamics of a group of true “Chinese Republicans” would make for a more intriguing show. Instead the play fillets its important, though well-worn, themes of racism and misogyny rather than examining the grit and nuance of characters and relationships. However, a quietly powerful final scene — revealing the reassertion of white patriarchy alongside one character’s weary determination to maintain her place within it — means “Chinese Republicans” concludes with a resonantly meaningful thud.

For a satire, “Chinese Republicans” is told disappointingly straight. Stiffly mounted, it doesn’t fully explore its own extremes, especially in Ellen’s swings of behavior and belief. The formation and dynamics of a group of true “Chinese Re...

For a satire, “Chinese Republicans” is told disappointingly straight. Stiffly mounted, it doesn’t fully explore its own extremes, especially in Ellen’s swings of behavior and belief. The formation and dynamics of a group of true “Chinese Republicans” would make for a more intriguing show. Instead the play fillets its important, though well-worn, themes of racism and misogyny rather than examining the grit and nuance of characters and relationships. However, a quietly powerful final scene — revealing the reassertion of white patriarchy alongside one character’s weary determination to maintain her place within it — means “Chinese Republicans” concludes with a resonantly meaningful thud.

Lin demonstrates that she is a talented writer, whipping up plot and characters into a series of frenzies. It all adds up to an entertaining comedy, with sparks of laughter and even a nightmarish Mandarin gameshow. What it doesn’t add up to, alas, ...

Lin demonstrates that she is a talented writer, whipping up plot and characters into a series of frenzies. It all adds up to an entertaining comedy, with sparks of laughter and even a nightmarish Mandarin gameshow. What it doesn’t add up to, alas, is a compelling piece of theatre. The playwright aims arrows in many directions: the glass ceiling, sexual abuse, loveless marriage, the sacrifice of children for career, immigrant battering, intra-racial badgering (as in which Chinese characters are really Chinese and which aren’t Chinese enough), and more. Harvey Weinstein even makes a cameo, surprisingly but—in the context of the play—inevitably.

But the “Republican” part of Chinese Republicans feels shoehorned into its structure, with references from Roosevelt to Reagan. And stylistically, when the action moves to a storage room to prep for a company-wide event, the slapstick physical co...

But the “Republican” part of Chinese Republicans feels shoehorned into its structure, with references from Roosevelt to Reagan. And stylistically, when the action moves to a storage room to prep for a company-wide event, the slapstick physical comedy undermines the world that Lin has created. When Chinese Republicans trusts its characters, it’s electric. When it doesn’t, even the Louboutins can’t carry it.