"Trial By Water"
Written by: Qui Nguyen
Directed by: John Gould Rubin
Ma-Yi Theater Company
Jorge Ortoll, Executive Director
Ralhp B Pena, Artistic Director
in Association with Queens Theater in the Park

Starring: Arthur Acuna, Genevieve DeVeyra, Dinh Q Doan, Jojo Gonzalez,
Karen Tsen Lee, Timothy McCown Reynolds and Jessica Chandlee Smith

March 14 - April 9, 2006
The Culture Project
45 Bleecker Street ( at Lafayette St) NYC 10012

www.ma-yitheatre.org
info@ma-yitheatre.org

"Trial By Water"
Theater Review by:
Luis Pedron of Fanclubx.com

"Trial By Water" climaxes with a gut wrenching  ending.... left me on the edge of my seat...

I know Ma-Yi always comes up with superb theatrical treats. But I was suprised with the ante that was set by this play. High energy, very visceral and contemporary. Inspite of the play set in circa 1988, the play plays to the now to us who experience our journey enroute  to our immigrant life here in our "paradise" which is America.

A lot of us had to deal with the hardships of the past to live in the now. But the characters in the "Trial by Water" had to face the inhumanity of what haunted them in the ship that supposedly was their salvation. It became a sea of silent death eating into their flesh, into their soul.

Brothers Hung (Dinh Q Doan) who was 15  and  Huy, horney at 13  (was  intriguley played by actress Genevieve DeVeyra)  were sent to this voyage by their parents to  live a better life in America. (Both actors deserve  their  nominations for an Obie. Mark my word.) The stage set was rows and rows of   wooden planks resembling the bottom of the ship.  Like the gut of a whale they are stuck there to live in the safety of the crowd. Not to be noticed - to blend in.
Reminded by their parents to ration their food and not to talk to strangers.
That was their golden rule to surive the supposed one week trip. The one week
became weeks and weeks and weeks... they were hungry, tired and Huy horney and tired...Hung, the only practicing Buddhist in the family, to survive recourses  to drinking and eating his own excrement. The food they brought is depleted.  Now they need to deal. A certain, element surrounds them like a shark. Tien  (Arthur Acuna), an adult who confesses to know their father acts as their guardian angel/devil. He saves Hung a couple of times from attackers. Inspite of that his intentions are questionable, intriguingly at time he seems sincere. Hung still would not eat anything. Tien offers raw fish (?) for their nourishment..the brothers decline.

Amidst all of this the spirit of the memory of the brother's parents would visit them. Eeriely played by Jojo Gonzalez ( Father - Khue) and Karen Tsen Lee ( Mother - Pham), they remind the siblings to ration their food, not to talk to strangers. The mother tells them to be patient.... things will happen bit by bit...it will take time...

The brothers are a contrast in virtue older brother Hung is negative but patient, younger brother Huy is optimistic but impatient. They were each other's yin and yang up to a point. They would lose each other's trust and faith. They would succumb to temptation and to the sheep like devil of man called Tien. Stuck in a ship of wolves, it was Noah's arch without Noah. It was zoolike without a zoo keeper. The animals were left to fend for themselves. Sadly, surivival of the fittest.

The acting brought me  emotions...feelings I did not expect to reach.  I was mesmerized by the depth of their understanding of this piece. An immigration experience ficticious as this was written, I hoped no one will ever experience, but it did happen. (www.rhimp.com/bolinao).

The lighting dim as it may be, spotlit the actors at significant times in the play.
Sound design highlighted by screeching sound of whales, waves contrasting with the motors running sounding like the bowels of hell. The costume design simple but symbolic. The use of puppetry was intriguing and  essential. Kudos to writer Qui Nguyen and director John Gould Rubin who in cooperation with the  Ma - Yi Theater Company  brought such a high caliber  presentation, I highly recommend to everyone. It's a must see!

"Trial By Water" is  visceral, intriguing and hypnotic. The play climaxes with such a high note of a  gut wrenching experience that you will talk about for years. It left me  literally breathless for awhile, speechless ...........but oh so satisfied..."
Luis Pedron of Fanclubx.com