Review - Soft Power

I am obviously a huge fan of David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori - they have written some of my very favorite theatrical pieces.  So when it was announced that their collaboration Soft Power would be coming to the Public Theater, I was keen to see it.  Getting my schedule (and my finances) to cooperate wasn't easy, so I was enormously grateful when the production was extended by a week and I was able to get a good seat.  I have been looking forward to seeing this show for a really long time and I am happy to report that Soft Power did not disappoint.

Soft Power is hard to define - the creative team calls it 'a play with a musical', but its complexity is one of the things that makes it powerfully unique.  It's a story about democracy, cultural appropriation, racism, head vs heart, and so many other things - it deals with gun control and white supremacy and repressed self-loathing and living through trauma and oh so many other things.

So now you're thinking OHMYGOD, how can one show do that?  And how can anyone possibly enjoy it?!  Well, I'm here to tell you, Soft Power does all that and more.  It is also completely DELIGHTFUL.  I laughed with sheer delight many times; I also started to weep several times with connection and empathy.  I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats (which gets a mention in the show, btw).  I simply loved it.   There was a feeling of catharsis and shared grief and joy, and also hope.  I left the theater so hopeful; teary, but hopeful.  I've never seen anything quite like Soft Power and that is totally part of its charm.  I'll try to describe some of the plot for you, but spoiler-y things may abound and I am ever so hopeful that there will be a transfer in this show's future.  It deserves to be seen by everyone.  It's a show for right now, but has a lot to say about our past and about our future.  Everyone, please put good vibes in the air that Sunday won't be the last time Soft Power will be on a stage in NYC.  Moving on...

At the beginning of the play, we see a character named David Henry Hwang (identified as DHH in the program), chatting with a producer of musicals in China, about writing a musical that will premiere in a new theater in China.  The producer, Xue Xing, envisions Broadway-style musicals that tell Chinese stories - he presents a screenplay of a favored Chinese romantic comedy and suggests that DHH adapt it into a musical.  There are discussions about making the work seem Chinese vs Asian-American, and how the musical should end, when DHH has to leave to go to a political fundraiser for the next president of the United States ("oh, Hillary Clinton?!?!").  They go to the fundraiser, which just happens to be after a production of The King and I, and Xue Xing gets a selfie with Hillary.  Soon after, we discover that Hillary has lost the election and DHH is depressed and unable to feel safe when he is suddenly stabbed in the neck (this actually happened, though not the night after the election).  As DHH is losing blood and losing consciousness, suddenly we're thrust into his fever dreams of a musical, sort of like The King and I, but only from the Chinese point of view.  So Hillary is The King, and Xue Xing is the I.  Sort of.

photo credit: Joan Marcus

I can't even describe how clever and delightful the musical numbers are, and yet some of them are beyond moving (the last song in the first act nearly made me hyperventilate with its beauty and power) and some are really chilling (the gun song almost made me cry for different reasons).  There's a patter song that describes the Electoral College that is so brilliant, it's unreal.  Hillary has a power ballad about democracy that was depressing in one context and filled with hope in another.  I mean, there is serious genius happening in Soft Power.  And I haven't even mentioned the interlude that happens right after intermission - we're suddenly at a panel discussion, at the supposed 50th anniversary celebration of this musical.  I won't even try to describe how meta and brilliant the scene was - trust me, it was. 

photo credit: Sara Krulwich

I think it's pretty clear that I loved Soft Power and I found it utterly delightful, devastating, unique, and powerful, all at the same time.  I will say that not everyone shared my opinion.  Namely, my seat neighbors.  Very close to curtain, a house manager led two patrons of a certain age into the seats next to me.  OK.  Let's just say they looked like typical Public Theater subscribers.  Once the show started, after about five minutes, one of the seat neighbors, let's call her Sleepy, fell asleep.  The other didn't, but I could sort of feel her rage throughout.  Let's call her Meanie.  Whenever I laughed with delight, she would whip her head in my direction and I could feel her displeasure.  Whatever.  They couldn't yuck my yum.  When intermission arrived, Sleepy woke up and the two of them began excoriating the show, in their outdoor voices.  "Worst thing I've ever seen."  "Terrible."  "They didn't even start the music until 20 minutes in."  On and on and on.  I was trying to keep my temper and didn't want to shout at them about the five-block-rule, when suddenly the same house manager came over and asked them if they'd like her help going to the lobby for intermission.  Meanie said, "Actually, we were thinking of just leaving altogether."  The house manager pleasantly said, "That's fine, too, I can help you with that."  And she led them out, with a smile to me as they left.  I think she appreciated my struggle with discretion.  Then she led a very nice older couple to take those seats.  They were lovely and offered me candy.  So...clearly, I can be bought.  I just will never understand people who have to be so critical inside the supposed safe space of a theater.  And it will always make me mad.  Grrrrrrr.

Anyway.  Back to my happy place.  Soft Power closes Sunday and, like I said earlier, I really really really hope it transfers so I can see it again.  Wait, I haven't even mentioned how INCREDIBLE the cast is - Francis Jue has long been a favorite of mine and he was superlative as DHH.  Oh, the wit and charm and sweetness of the real DHH was evident, plus Jue sings like a dream.  Conrad Ricamora was incredible as Xue Xing, as well.  Oh, heck, everyone was amazing and we need this show to continue, because this amazing cast needs to continue.  Because we need this story.  Please.