Tarragon Theatre in affiliation with Why Not Theatre and Broadleaf Inventive/Benevolence, created and carried out by Kevin Matthew Wong, consulting path by Mike Payette, Tarragon Extraspace, closes Might 4. Tickets right here.
Generally a performer is so partaking that they might be studying a phone listing and nonetheless captivate an viewers.
Such a one is Kevin Matthew Wong whose world premiere “theatre play” Benevolence, presently operating on the Tarragon, is an absolute delight on each stage. (Wong calls his present a theatre play, therefore the citation marks.)
Wong is one thing of a polymath.
His credit for Benevolence embody performer, creator, director, author, and video and projection designer. The one issues he didn’t do instantly are set and lighting (Echo Zhou) and sound (Chris Ross-Ewart). Yizhou Zhang is credited as dramaturg and Tarragon inventive director Mike Payette as consulting director. Nonetheless, we now have to treat Wong as a really gifted one-man band.
Background
Benevolence is about Wong connecting to his Hakka roots.
The wellspring is his being requested to create a play for seniors concerning the Hakka expertise by a really persistent Jamaican Hakka known as Sonja. This play will likely be carried out in entrance of the 1000’s of Hakka from everywhere in the world who will collect for a Hakka convention.
And what’s extra, Wong has solely a few weeks to tug the present collectively. (The actor additionally performs Sonja together with all the opposite characters we meet throughout his journey.)
The Hakka
The Hakka have been a nomadic tribe who have been the final emigrate south into mainline China. Despite the fact that they’re carefully associated to the bulk Han Chinese language, the Hakka have their very own language and tradition. Because of their late arrival, they needed to dwell on the margins of society as a result of the nice agricultural land was already taken.
They name themselves “visitor individuals” as a result of they needed to maintain migrating, each due to poor residing situations and periodic massacres inflicted on them by the Cantonese and different Southern Han. Thus, the Hakka might be discovered actually everywhere in the world.
As Wong discovers by means of a sequence of encounters with aged Hakka, together with his grandmother, as a individuals the Hakka are thought of to be hard-working, egalitarian (notably within the case of girls), fiercely impartial, and most of all joyous. The Hakka love a great time.
The Present
Wong’s essential fact-finding contacts are Sonja, Peter Wong, head of the Vancouver Tsung Tsin Benevolent Affiliation, and an aged keeper of the Victoria Hakka temple.
As said earlier than, Wong’s skill to manifest himself, each bodily and vocally, inside these characters is just marvellous. Wong’s imitation abilities are uncanny.
The idea of the Tsung Tsin Benevolent Affiliation is essential. Not solely does it give Benevolence its title, however it additionally represents an important Hakka trait, specifically, the agency perception in serving to one another in time of want.
Discovering out concerning the Hakka for Wong is a profound journey of self-discovery. He at all times used to say his background is Chinese language, however by the tip of Benevolence, he is ready to firmly declare that he’s Hakka.
The Manufacturing
What makes Benevolence such an pleasurable expertise is the shocking means Wong makes use of props, which accurately festoon the stage. Props that seem like one factor can all of a sudden remodel into one thing else, and I hesitate to offer away any of those very amusing photos.
There are additionally some very startling scenic results which add to the imaginative nature of the play, specifically, the ending Lion Dance. As effectively, the projections and movies that are so vital to Wong’s chronicle, are deftly chosen. Humour performs a giant half within the present.
The Performer
Wong is a charmer. His smile is entrancing and his rapport with the viewers is actually a present. He is also a gorgeous mover with a dancer’s grace.
As Wong speaks, he makes use of his very expressive arms, that are a really engaging part to his stage presence.
Closing Ideas
Briefly, Wong has given us a much-needed life-affirming theatre play as an antidote in opposition to a troubled world. Benevolence is severe, touching, and amusing all on the identical time, and shouldn’t be missed.
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Paula Citron is a Toronto-based freelance arts journalist and broadcaster who hosts her personal web site, paulacitron.ca. For over 25 years, she was senior dance author for The Globe and Mail, affiliate editor of Opera Canada journal, arts reviewer for Classical 96.3 FM, and dance previews contributor to Toronto Life journal. She has been a visitor lecturer for numerous cultural teams and universities, notably on the function of the critic/reviewer, and has been a panellist on COC podcasts. Earlier than assuming a full-time journalism profession, Ms. Citron was a member of the drama division of the Claude Watson Faculty for the Arts.