Review - The Great Leap

As you all well know, I have my favorite writers - I helped administer a young writers' group for years and I have a huge fondness for the group's alums.  I enjoy them as people, think of them as friends, and I try to see their work whenever I can, since I believe in them and their talent.  It's always a happy day for me when I can pick up a ticket to one of the alum's plays; last night, I treated myself to Lauren Yee's new play at the Atlantic Theater's smaller second stage, The Great Leap.

I saw another of Lauren's recent plays when I was in Los Angeles last year (you can remind yourself of my thoughts on that play HERE) - I'm thrilled she's getting noticed nationwide and her plays are being performed at many theaters right now.  It's very exciting; I think she has a very unique voice, strong style and a huge future.  And, to cut to the chase, I thought The Great Leap was utterly wonderful and you should all go see it.

The Great Leap takes place in two time periods, and we go back and forth a bit between the two: 1971 Beijing and 1989 San Francisco.  In 1971, an American basketball coach went to China to teach them about the sport and there is a soft promise of a return for a rematch.  The scenes in 1989 deal with the coach taking his college team to Beijing.  But there is so much more to The Great Leap - it uses basketball as a metaphor for international relations, generational struggles, personal commitment, a need to discover identity and beyond.  I am so glad I didn't read the reviews before I saw the play, because I was extremely moved and devastated by the plot and characterizations; it was a pleasure to see the craft with which Lauren unfolds this story.  

photo credit: Ahron R. Foster

I don't want to ruin the sense of surprise for anyone, so I'll just say that I loved The Great Leap without going into too much plot detail - it was fast and funny throughout, with just delicious dialogue, yet it was also so moving and heart-wrenching as all of the threads of the story began to come together.  The company of four actors was superb, most especially BD Wong, who simply broke my heart as Wen Chang, the Chinese basketball coach.  I always love Wong's work, but here he exceeded even my lofty expectations.  There were so many layers to this quiet, thoughtful man who feels he has to hide so much, and his final monologue was shattering.  I don't think I'll ever forget the final image of this play - maybe other people expected this ending, but I didn't and I was overwhelmingly moved.  But, really, all four actors were first-rate: the other actors are Ned Eisenberg, Tony Aidan Vo, and Ali Ahn.  They all constructed their characterizations beautifully and complemented each other wonderfully well.  Even with Wong's amazing performance, this was truly an ensemble.

The play is loosely based on Lauren's father's experiences as a basketball player in San Francisco's Chinatown, and I love how she used the personal story as a jumping off point, alongside the historical facts of what was happening in China to tell this story and make it even more compelling.  I really loved The Great Leap as a wonderful theatrical experience, regardless of knowing the playwright, but my personal pride in her added immensely to my pleasure.

Seat-neighbor-wise:  I obviously need to work on my "don't talk to me" face, because last night, and Monday night at the Cherry Lane, my seat neighbors immediately struck up a conversation with me, asking me did I come to that theater often and what have I seen lately that I recommend.  I mean, I guess it's a compliment, and I should be flattered that I look like a reliable source, but I generally go to the theater to find my happy quiet space.  So, hm.  Maybe if I ever see my therapist again (she's stopped returning my emails, which is almost causing me to go to another therapist to talk about my therapist's rejecting me), I should talk to her about this...