[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of Write Act Repertory’s My Tiger, written and directed by Dionysius Vlachos at the Brickhouse Theatre.
Why does it feel like My Tiger is the perfect play for this time and place?
Set over the course of roughly 20 years in one man’s life, My Tiger is a deep dive into racism through the eyes and experiences of an Asian American man. Every scene is a new story. Stories about friendship, romance, family, and some awkward and very real situations where casual racism and not-so-casual racism are fully explored.
The effects of what we have all come to accept in this country as ‘normal’ racist behaviour are a drip, drip, drip of damage. As a white woman, how can I ever know the heartbreak of anticipating bigotry at every turn? Of ducking it, ignoring it, expecting it, rationalising it, excusing it. But I can be a witness and not a silent one; we all can.
My Tiger is a reference to the Chinese year of the Tiger whose prodigies are fierce but also highly emotional. The play holds nothing back. The central character, based heavily on writer/director Dionysius Viachos, is navigating his life as a half-Taiwanese, half-Greek man with enlightening results.
Where it Begins
We begin in high school, where ‘Didi’ tries to fit in, but learns pretty quickly who his real friends are. Those are the lifelong friends who reappear throughout the play. People in our lives who truly know us don’t see us as anything other than what we represent to them. They see a buddy, a confidant, a ride or die. They don’t see a person who may have an entirely different background, or family life, or ethnicity. We are all fundamentally the same after all.
However, there are deep-rooted threads of bigotry and racism in this world, not just in this country. Where that comes from isn’t really addressed in My Tiger. But that isn’t this show’s point. It’s a slow, steady unfolding of some of Didi’s pivotal moments. My Tiger is like a series of postcards from a thoughtful, interesting and highly creative life. Full of wildly realistic characters and open, unanswered questions about the human existence and how we relate to each other in basic, unfiltered ways.
I think the thing I liked the most about My Tiger is the wonderful organic way Didi allows the story to unfold. Yet, with all the harshness and the particularly controversial subject it delves into, there is a fluidity to the stories. A purposeful rhythm to them and he is unapologetically nonjudgmental.
He simply lays the story out for us to witness, to digest, to relate to our own selves, and to ruminate upon. And, I can tell you that I have been ruminating…for days, in fact.
My Tiger doesn’t pose as anything like a solution. It allows the audience to think…as well as feel. There’s no shouting, no building to a chaotic crescendo, no epiphany. Just one man opening his experience to us, bad and good. Sharing all, with a philosophy that belies some of the terrible behaviour and mindless casual bigotry. I believe it’s the calm observational style that actually leaves more of an impact than if this story were told full of hateful diatribes and twisted revenge.
My Tiger is a play about resilience and the absurdity of racism. That word alone defies logic, doesn’t it? As we are all, in point of fact, one race. The human race.
You’ll have to forgive me if I pontificate without sounding too well adjusted. Which I most defiantly am not. But, what on earth are we all doing to each other? However, we are now more steeped in racism than ever, it seems. The ugly is well and truly out of the closet and bolder than ever. What can a play do? Well, as usual, art can rescue us. From ourselves, from each other, from an obvious end. The very best art can change minds and hearts and it can also remind us that kindness is the only path to anywhere good.
My Tiger is playing for one more weekend at the wonderful Brickhouse Theatre. How lucky we are to have voices as poignant and profound as
Dionysius Vlachos and actors as absolutely brilliant as this big, gorgeous, extraordinary cast. Bravo!!!
I absolutely loved My Tiger…No wonder it was nominated for Best Dramatic Theatre at this year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival!
Tickets:
https://mytiger.brownpapertickets.com
Where:
The Brickhouse Theatre
10950 Peach Grove St., North Hollywood, CA 91601
When:
August 22 – 31
Fridays 7:3PM, Saturdays 7:30PM, Sundays 2:00PM
The My Tiger Team
Starring: Dionysius Vlachos, Stan Zhu, Anshu Zeng-Yuan, Lonnie Sugarman, Alison Iles, Rollence Patugan, Nina Rancel, Nick Enea, Mai Yang, Mikayla Lew, Richmond Staunton Keeling, Jay Kim, JingbeiBai, Edward Kiniry-Ostro, and Mara Weisband.