Jodi Long’s Mary made a life for herself after her husband left in the play by Lloyd Suh.
A Magic Theater presentation of a play in one act by Lloyd Suh. Directed by Trip Cullman.
Esther - Angela Lin
Mary - Jodi Long
Ralph - Jon Norman Schneider
Min Suk - Keone Young
David - Ryun Yu
A Korean-American clan's uneasy family reunion provides the impetus for "American Hwangap." Lloyd Suh's new play is antic and engaging, though the headlong energy of both the text and Trip Cullman's Magic Theater staging sometimes plow right past the potential for deeper exploration. With different productions already lined up, including one at Wild Project in New York next month, there's ample opportunity for Suh to flesh out the characters' pained backgrounds and connections; present-tense hijinks are fine as they are.
Members of the Chun family in California are awaiting the return of father Min Suk (Keone Young) with wildly mixed emotions.
Having methodically "reinvented" herself since his departure, ex-wife turned single mom and career woman Mary (Jodi Long) is almost suspiciously calm and collected. Daughter Esther (Angela Lin), who's stumbled through life acquiring various useless husbands, therapists and degrees, remains sullenly resentful toward the man who abandoned them all 15 years ago.
Youngest son Ralph (a winning Jon Norman Schneider), an excitable 29-year-old "genius" who acts like a hyperactive 10-year-old, has retreated to the sanctuary of mom's basement since an ill-explained meltdown. Elder son David (Ryun Yu) is a master-of-the-universe type Gotham investment banker. But despite his glib surface, he's so undone by pa's return that he can only monitor the reunion's progress cross-country by phone while reiterating increasingly faint promises that he'll try to attend.
Picked up at the airport by a reluctant Esther, Min Suk at first seems exasperatingly content to act as though his long incommunicado stint in native Korea was a mere blip in family relations. It's soon clear he hopes to pick up where he left off -- particularly with Mary. Despite all her hard-won independence, the well-preserved woman proves susceptible to a surprisingly undimmed sexual connection with her portly, uncouth, long-winded (in broken English) ex.
Lacking her inner strength, however, all three offspring levy daunting expectations and agendas on a parent whose disappearance triggered their differently messed-up adulthoods.
The official excuse for Min Suk's appearance is his Hwangap, the traditional 60th-birthday occasion marking a life's completion of one full astrological cycle and symbolic "rebirth." He has his own reasons for not celebrating it in Korea, and Mary hers for orchestrating the trip.
Those explanations eventually tumble out amid numerous amusing if disjointed setpieces and individual wig-outs. But when "American Hwangap" ends on what feels like just one more abrupt scene break, the unanswered questions nearly outweigh the evening's myriad pleasures. Why
did Dad leave? What exactly is the nature of Ralphie's nervous situation? Just what's going on with David, who grows more disheveled (and less dressed) with each phone call? And to nitpick, why does a 58-year-old immigrant mom often sound like a seen-it-all twentysomething Valley Girl ("Shut
up!")?
Backed by lean, crisp design elements, Cullman directs his talented cast to a sharply pointed T. The few quieter moments (such as a bonding fishing expedition for Dad and Ralph) are as astutely handled as the more manic ones. But there's still plenty of room for Suh to deepen our insight into the Chuns' background, motivations and status quo without sacrificing wit or playfulness.
Set, Erik Flatmo; costumes, Brandin Baron; lighting, York Kennedy; sound, Fitz Patton; production stage manager, Briana J. Fahey. Opened, reviewed April 11, 2009. Running time: 1 HOUR, 20 MIN.
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Date in print: Tue., Apr. 14, 2009