Review: BENEVOLENCE at Tarragon Theatre

Hospitality is at the core of Kevin Matthew Wong’s Hakka culture, and in BENEVOLENCE, he more than does his ancestors proud. As he introduces his story with a miniature lion dance puppet and invites audience members to bang pots to add to the excitement before partaking in snacks, he explains that Hakka means “guest people.” For permanent guests, a warm welcome holds great importance.

A diasporic group rejected and scattered throughout the world, the Hakka showed up in Canada to find rejection from even the Chinese Benevolent Associations of the railroad-building era, which were designed to provide solace and resources for a scapegoated community. They proceeded to build their own communities through the first Chinese temple in Canada, Tsung Tsin Associations, and even an international conference.

Little of this legacy had made an impression on Wong for most of his life. Then, he received a phone call from an insistent family friend, asking him to create a play for the Markham Hakka seniors’ association to celebrate a history he barely knew.

BENEVOLENCE is an ode to the joy of discovery of the self through others. Touching and funny, earnest yet practical, Wong’s play is a small gem with a flowing, well-crafted narrative and crystal clear characterization. Between Wong’s clever direction, creative visual surprises, and warm, eager stage presence, I have rarely felt more welcomed.

Wong’s show consistently peels back layers, whether he’s talking about the history of the ethnic makeup of his neighbourhood at Spadina and Oxford, looking at his own family’s story, or opening up a set piece to reveal an incongruous item. His documentary-like journey takes him from his initial unwillingness to participate and the “existential turbulence” of feeling like a fraud, to a trip to Victoria where he finds a surprising sense of communion at the local association and a sense of peace at the Tam Kung temple despite its crotchety guardian and his own lack of religious fervour, to a renewed desire to do right by his roots. He’s pushed forward by messages from senior Sonia, a Hakka from Jamaica with an elaborate stand-up routine who’s a terrific character in her own right.

We’ve all seen “discovering my identity” stories before. What’s striking about Wong’s is how he relentlessly crafts his blend of charming idealism and dryly funny realism, while also marrying documentary with metaphor and even dance when the emotions are too large to put into words.

Again, it’s all about layers: Wong screens a touching interview with his 100-year-old grandmother that pulls at the heartstrings, then pulls back the curtain to show how little usable footage there was, highlighting the prompting and family interference involved. None of this diminishes the value of seeing Wong’s grandmother talk about the joys of eating, but the consciously tempered nature of reality prevents the show from ever veering into the saccharine. It also provides an object lesson in the importance of talking to our family members and learning our own stories before they’re gone.

You can feel Wong’s earnest affection for everyone he gently embodies and parodies, including himself, and it’s hard not to meet his smile with one in return.

There are no monoliths or sweeping generalizations in Wong’s layered characterizations; even the seniors aren’t of one mind about how welcome Wong is to tell their cultural story. But, as Sonia reminds them, gatekeeping identity is a great way to make sure it dies off.

While Wong has also created a documentary of the same name, he makes sure this version stays theatrical, both by consistently connecting with his audience and by smoothly integrating interactive design elements that visually pop. Set and lighting designer Echo Zhu provides an oversized dim sum steamer basket that doubles a pincushion. Precise projections on upended tables become the temple’s red door or the entrance to something greater, and Wong fluidly lifts a screen from the floor to comment on his adventure on the west coast. The insistent ringtone of Chris Ross-Ewart’s sound design follows him throughout – it’s Sonia calling, but it’s also his conscience telling him to do better by a vast, unknowable history.

In the end, no single play could be an encapsulation of what being Hakka means, even if it does feature several karaoke numbers from the Markham Hakka senior’s association. But Kevin Matthew Wong’s BENEVOLENCE provides a warm serving of humanity, charmingly offered to you on an innovated plate.

After all, you’re welcome.