Author Archives: Keith Stegner

Misunderstandings of Cultures in Ch’ing∙lish

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David Henry Hwang’s Ch’ing∙lish is a comedy playing at the Longacre Theatre. Leigh Silverman directs this spectacular show. The way this play touches on the subject of cultural differences will keep you laughing for most of the two hour performance. It originally premiered on June 18, 2011 in Chicago at the Goodman Theatre and came to Broadway in October.

Hwang impeccably relates as many aspects of the story as he can to the subject of cultural differences. The play is about an American businessman attempting to do business in China. Business is about coming to agreements and successes or failures. This fits with the theme of successes and failures in interactions between cultures. Daniel Cavanaugh, the main character, runs a sign business. This is significant to the play because signs are a major form of communication in today’s world and there have been many mistranslations of signs. A few of these mistranslations are used in the play to add a comical element to the subject.

Hwang refers to the Enron scandal, a well-known event related to business ethics, to show the reactions of two cultures to one event. Cavanaugh goes to China for business because he was involved in the Enron scandal. It turns out that, in China, his involvement in Enron was actually viewed as a good thing. To the Chinese, it is believed that the ability to cause a scandal that large requires a great amount of skill. This shows the way different cultures can view things in extremely different ways.

The character of Daniel Cavanaugh is played by Gary Wilmes. His portrayal of the character that has been unsuccessful in all areas of his life is believable. He convincingly conveys the feelings of a man who has been unsuccessful in his work in his home country, has an unhappy marriage, and is attempting to start fresh in a new country that he does not fully understand.

Jennifer Lim plays the character of Xi Yan, a working woman that is unhappy with but committed to her marriage. Lim’s character works for Minister Cai Guoliang in the beginning of the play and is unhappily married to a judge. She has an affair with Daniel Canvanaugh as an escape from her marriage but also to help her husband get ahead. Lim portrays the character perfectly, with the right combination of rebellion, loyalty, and deceitfulness without ever seeming to realize that her actions may appear absurd to others. Her actions, which can seem absurd and contradictory to people of other cultures but absolutely normal to her, add to the theme in a way that is very funny.

They play even touches on the differences within a changing culture. The characters of Peter Timms and Minister Cai Guoliang represent an older Chinese culture that is on its way out. This symbolic meaning is present when Cai Guoliang is removed from his position and Peter supports him. These two men followed an outdated way of doing things and were left behind as a result. Peter Timms is played by Stephen Pucci and Minister Cai Guoliang is played by Larry Lei Zhang. Pucci’s depiction of his character provides a great representation of the mix of different cultures and different period. His character is a man who went from England to China, where he learned and adapted to the culture, which then changed. His emotions, loyalty, and outbursts are all very believable and add to his character as well as the meaning of the play. Zhang’s portrayal feels genuine and accurate as well. He seems to be more connected with more traditional methods of doing things. He typically gives jobs to people he is related to knows well. In addition, he appears to always want to do his duty. These characters help to show that cultural differences can be frustrating and can even exist within an evolving culture.

The sets for the play, which were designed by David Korins, felt real and accurate. They transitioned quickly and helped with the understanding of the play. I could understand, where the characters were and how their location impacted their behavior. For example, the hotel room depicted in the stage added to the believability of David Cavanaugh and Xi Yan’s private actions, such as their affair and arguments.

Overall, the performance of the play is very entertaining and thoroughly supports its message. Personally, after watching this remarkably amusing manifestation of cultural differences, I believed that it is best not to take these differences too seriously. Misunderstandings are inevitable when people of very different cultures interact and Ch’ing∙lish proves that it simply laughing them off can be a good way to deal with them.

Differences Between Cultures

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Different societies form their own distinct cultures and, unfortunately, these cultures have often had difficulty accepting each other’s ideas and values. This difficulty resulted in racism and stereotypes. People have attempted to fight these concepts throughout history and have only been successful to a degree. We have made progress in understanding how wrong these things are and laws have been made to prevent them but they are far from being eradicated.

Stereotypes are very present in the media. For example, when characters are created for shows or movies, they often are based on stereotypes because it is easier for the audience to understand the characters. Racism is often used as a form of comedy. Writers will use racist and offensive remarks or ideas to get attention and to get people to laugh. In both of these cases, the intention is harmless. However, they can have harmful impacts as audiences are repeatedly exposed to racism and stereotypes. People may start to believe the things they are seeing and hearing even if they aren’t meant to. In addition, because cultures have different ideas and values, things that are meant as harmless may be interpreted as harmful.

David Henry Hwang’s play Chinglish, touches on this idea of misinterpretations between cultures. It shows off how Asians and Americans have difficulty understanding each other at times. The play contains no Asian-American characters because it wants to represent the relationship, or lack of relationship, between the two separate cultures.

Fake Advertisements

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Many advertisements today are very boring. While a few original ads stand out, most have similar designs and ideas behind them. Ruth La Ferla explains a parody of this concept in the article “Scratch the Ad and Sniff Out the Parody.” The article explains that W Magazine’s November issue contained nine false ads shot by Steven Meisel. The magazine’s editor in chief, Stefano Tonchi, and creative director, Alex Gonzalez came up with the idea for these false ads. They wanted to set apart their magazine from other fashion magazines and show off how unremarkable most advertisements are.

La Ferla’s article is very well written. She starts out by describing a few of the ads before jumping into the explanation of what they really are. She explains that an “advertisement for Pizazz, an evening wear line,” “spotlights a sweet little girl, her lips streaked in scarlet, her doll-size body swathed in layers of tulle.” By describing this and other examples of the false ads before explaining that they are false, she gives the reader a similar experience to that of seeing the images while reading the magazine. She then points out that the reader has  “been punk’d” and goes on with a very informative explanation of these advertisements and the story behind them. She states the people who were behind the parody, explains the motivation behind it, and descrobes how it came about.

I think this parody was a great idea. Advertisements have become very typical, especially in fashion magazines. I don’t think I’ve ever opened one myself but even I know what the ads in them look like. I think its great that the editor in chief and creative director are aware of this problem and willing to make a parody out of it.

Design For the Poor Exhibition

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In the article “Design for the Poor. (And Yes, This Is Serious.)” Michael Kimmelman writes about an exhibition at the United Nations that showcases designs that could help people living in poverty around the world. The review explains that, while the idea of the exhibition may “sound like homework,” the way its done actually makes it exciting. In the review, Kimmelman also points out that architects need to listen more to their clients to create buildings that will better serve communities in poor parts of the world, which is an important idea that the exhibition is attemping to convey.

I think that this subject is very important and I think it is great that this exhibition was created. There are many people in the world who are living in horrible conditions and are in need of help. The exhibitions not only informs people of ways that people in poor parts of the world can be helped, but it also gets people excited about the idea and may inspire them to come up with their own designs and creations that can help these people.

The article focuses on a few key points, which can be both good and bad. I thought it was good that it was very focused and conveyed Kimmelman’s thoughts in a clear and concise way. However, at the same time it did make me want to know more about the exhibition. Overall, I think this was well-written and did a good job of getting its point accross.

Barber Of Seville Play/Opera

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While the play and opera versions of The Barber of Seville both have the same characters, same plot and take place in the same city, there are many slight differences. Of all the characters, Rosina and Figaro had the greatest differences in the two forms of the work. They both seemed much more involved in the opera version.

I felt that Rosine in the play was less present than she was in the opera. In the play, both Bartolo and the Count want to marry her but you don’t see her thinking about ther options and making chices about her own life as much as in the opera. In the opera, you can see her making the choices about what she wants. She is much more rebellious than in the play. I found her much more interesting and relatable in the opera than in the play.

Figaro was also much more important in the opera than the play. In the play you can see his role in the relationship between the Count and Rosine but you don’t see him as a major character as much in that version as you do in the opera.

Fate in Comedy

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Because tragedies and comedies have different styles and purposes, the presence of fate in these two types of works is very different. In tragedies, such as Antigone, fate is a major theme that is presented almost immediatly and present almost constantly. The characters in a tragedy often know their fate, or are at least given signs of their fate, from the beginning. However, in comedies, such as Beaumarchais’s The Barber of Seville, the presence of fate is not as strong, although it is still there.

The characters of The Barber of Seville do not know very muck about their fates. In fact, what they believe to be their fate in the beginning of the comedy is very different from the way it turns out in the end. In fact, the Count wouldn’t even believe that his fate with Rosine is even possible. At first, he believed that she was already married to Bartholo. It wasnt until the fourth scene that Figarone informs him this was a rumor to “”set off suitors, as yet she is only his ward.” The idea of their love is proposed right away and the audience understands that their fate is most likely to be together, but it takes time for the characters to recognize this, if they do at all.

As the play goes on, the story does lead to a single fate, but the path to it is much less direct than it is in a tragedy. In a tragedy, the fate of the characters is proposed, the characters take actions that lead them to their fate, then their fate comes true. In comedies, not everything leads right to the fate. There are often obstacles that make the audience wonder if things will work out as they expected. For example, when Figaro steals the key so that he and the Count can get to Rosine and she can marry the Count, things seem be leading towards their fate. However, Bartholo discovers that they have the key and plans to stop them, creating an obstacle that leads them away from their fate. While the expected fate does eventually come true, unexpected events such as this one occur to make the story more exciting.

A predetermined fate may be an important aspect of many different types of works, but it can be used and approached in different ways. In comedies, the fate tends to be less known and the path to it tends to be less direct.