"Profile Theatre's Tiger Style is the best bargain to be found right now in Portland theater. You buy a ticket to a comedy and get-as a free bonus-a dazzling array of vignettes dissecting Asian American education, life, relationships, and myths. It's giving a side eye to corporate life, showing how families break up and make up, and offering biting examples of Communist Party of China (CPC) politics. Such a deal!"
"Playwright Mike Lew introduces us to a panoply of characters, like Albert Chen (Nick Ong), a Harvard-educated software engineer who's considered a failure in his family because he isn't a doctor. Of course, his sister Jennifer (Evangeline Billups) is a Harvard MD/PhD oncologist and concert pianist, so she's okay. Even as the brother and sister present to the world and one another as successful, their lives are secretly wretched."
"Albert's coworker, Russ the Bus (Murri Lazaroff-Babin), is actively taking advantage of him at the office, and Jennifer was just dumped by her slacker boyfriend Reggie (also played by Lazaroff-Babin). Not one to go mildly, Jennifer nails Reggie with a precise read, telling him: "You're a man-child with a cinder block for a brain and coal for a heart. Your hair's thin, your dick's thin." Both siblings feel they are doormats for the unreflective, boundlessly-confident caucasian idiots in their respective orbits."
Tiger Style mixes comedy with a series of focused vignettes that probe Asian American education, family expectations, romantic life, workplace dynamics, and politics. The script maintains clarity and purposeful control while shifting among characters and scenes. Central figures Albert Chen and his sister Jennifer outwardly embody success yet privately endure emotional hardship and humiliation. Office exploitation and relationship breakdowns coexist with incisive family psychological warfare. The play balances biting satire of corporate culture and CPC politics with empathetic portrayals of identity stressors and familial strain, delivered through assured writing and vivid performances.
Read at Portland Mercury
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