In his new work Chinese language Republicans, now in its world premiere for a restricted Off-Broadway engagement with Roundabout Theatre Firm, playwright Alex Lin considers an American story of cultural assimilation, sexual politics, and clashing intergenerational views whereas navigating capitalism and climbing the ladder of company finance, as a younger newcomer joins three established businesswomen who meet for an “affinity group” lunch every month at a Chinese language restaurant, try to steer her budding profession, and look at the realities of their very own, as tempers flare, truths are uncovered, and their ambitions, triumphs, and sacrifices come into query.
Set in NYC in 2019 – the yr earlier than the pandemic shutdown and the final yr of Trump’s first presidency – the narrative, below the path of Chay Yew, combines over-the-top laughs with seething stress, explosive confrontations, cutthroat competitors, and revealing disclosures in regards to the work atmosphere and its influence on their private lives, delivered at a rapid-fire tempo with full-out emotion by the 4 Chinese language American ladies of various ages and background experiences, intent on breaking the glass ceiling within the white-male-dominated world of finance at Friedman Wallace.
The characters – all diehard Republicans and capitalists, pushed by cash and place (till they aren’t) – hurl politically incorrect insults, drop continuous f-bombs, yell and discuss over one another, interact in brutal in-fighting (battle path by UnkleDave’s Battle-Home), criticize one another’s data and supply of the Chinese language language (dialect teaching by Ka-Ling Cheung), and supply their tough-as-nails recommendation on learn how to get forward in a world that has historically denied them entry based mostly on gender and ethnicity. However with the agency’s enlargement in China, alternatives have opened up for them, in the event that they purchase into the expectations and attitudes of the established order, look and costume the half, and switch a blind eye and stay silent in regards to the persevering with discrimination and exploitation.
An all-in forged of 4 delivers the intense personalities with razor-sharp wit and scathing insights into American enterprise and finance and the conduct they engender. Jodi Lengthy is the no-holds-barred 65-year-old Phyllis, who aggressively criticizes everybody (together with herself for being half-Filipino) and holds agency to the outdated dictums that “you possibly can’t assist others in the event you can’t assist your self” and “early is on time, on time is late,” complaining repeatedly that “she’s late” when the 24-year-old pescatarian Katie, who’s the most recent rent and up for one more promotion, arrives simply shortly earlier than the appointed hour. Katie, performed by Anna Zavelson, is worked up about her prospects, makes use of the extra modern language and advances of her technology (she’s learning Chinese language on the Duolingo digital platform to advance herself), and is keen to go away rapidly every time her unseen male pal Casey calls (which proves to be an unwise determination, for each her sought-after development and with the opposite ladies, who’ve chosen profession over private relationships and household). She is mentored by the much less confrontational and initially extra sympathetic Ellen, who, at 48, has additionally lent her help with the company’s administration to Phyllis (arranging for a lateral “promotion”), and envisions turning into, together with Katie, a companion within the agency. And Jully Lee performs Iris, a 31-year-old Chinese language immigrant within the US on a soon-to-expire work visa, awaiting her green-card software, and particularly important of the others’ less-than-impressive linguistic expertise within the Mandarin dialect and minimal data of her native nation and their ancestral homeland, because the self-proclaimed “knowledgeable on Chinese language individuals.” Rounding out the forged is Ben Langhorst within the supporting function of the waiter, a mean white man who speaks 4 Chinese language dialects higher than any of them and is subjected to their fixed complaints and criticism of the restaurant, its meals, and his service.
The wild trip additionally comprises flashbacks to the sooner careers of the Younger Phyllis and Ailin (additionally portrayed by Lengthy and Ikeda), the latter suggested by Phyllis to make use of the Americanized identify Ellen, and her surreal “WORST STRESS NIGHTMARE” within the format of a recreation present she won’t be capable to win. Will the relentless stress on the ladies, mixed with a long-held secret that’s uncovered to the general public, set off a dramatic change within the trajectory of their lives and beliefs? Or will they continue to be hell bent on development in any respect prices?
A top-notch creative design provides a pitch-perfect tone to the locales, the characters, and their states of thoughts. The rotating set (by Wilson Chin), on a turntable stage, simply transitions from the well-appointed Chinese language restaurant to the Friedman Wallace workplace and into the psychological misery of Ellen’s zany dream, all enhanced with projections (by Hana Kim), lighting (by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew), and authentic music and sound (by Fabian Obispo) that intensify their moods and transport us into their conditions. And costumes (by Anita Yavich) vary from the ladies’s energy fits and excessive heels to the younger denim and tee-shirt of the off-work Katie and the dazzling conventional Chinese language outfit through which Lee seems in Ellen’s thoughts, with well-matched hair and wigs (by Tom Watson), that outline the figures and their quest for being seen, heard, and accepted on this planet and the occupation they’ve pursued.
Although set in 2019, Chinese language Republicans is a well timed send-up of our present socio-economic local weather, with the crackdown on immigration, the rise of racially motivated assaults, the reversal of beforehand enacted ladies’s rights, the shortage of accountability of sexual predators, the aspiration for cash and energy trumping humanity, and the need of the #MeToo motion and energetic protests to rectify the inequities that persist in our nation. It’s a present and a forged which might be each humorous and spot-on.
Operating Time: Roughly 90 minutes, with out intermission.
Chinese language Republicans performs via Sunday, April 5, 2026, at Roundabout Theatre Firm, performing on the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Middle for Theatre, Laura Pels Theatre, 111 West 46th Avenue, NYC. For tickets (priced at $69-102, together with charges), go on-line, or discover low cost tickets at TodayTix.
