What I liked
Despite the heavy conversation, they had moments that just felt really genuine reactions. The moments in Didi’s earlier life seemed definitely fueled with being stuck in a place where there were only white people, but once Didi gets out and is in NY and LA and is able to meet other Asian folks provided that added internalized racism that he is witnessing and experiencing. Hes able to get an insight to his own previous ideologies and pokes at them to ask “well why though?”. Added with Didi’s own narrations and commentary in between the moments in time made you really connect and acknowledge “this is someone’s life, and it could be the same for anyone in this room to take with as you will.”
What I didn't like
If I really had to knit pick, there were moments that I felt the actors didn’t project enough and made it hard to hear everything. This could have been due to my seats being in the lower far right of the stage, but anytime the characters were placed on the opposite corner of me, it made it feel like some characters were mumbling. An example would be when Peter and Didi were meeting up after they moved out and went on to bigger things. I heard most of it to gain the major context, but some stuff needed to be filled in the blanks. This also happened in between some scenes with the commentary from Didi after reliving the event, but still understood contextually what I needed to know. Then there would be other characters overly projected themselves. Some moments were needed it for characters like Dirk and Tom to my understanding, but I felt wasn’t too necessary need to be that kind of made it seem more intense than it was, like when Brian.
My overall impression
Having never seen plays before, I was very curious to see how this would play out. It was honestly a very true and interesting perspective on what it is like growing up mixed in America. They addressed a lot of relatable issues for feeling displaced in your identity amongst other issues like passive racism and expectations from others. I feel that even if you’re not walking in the shoes of the character Didi, you’re still able to understand the tones and moods of these situations. This play hit very close to home. As a Filipino American growing up in the white neighborhoods in Chicago, IL, there was moments in be play where I felt like I saw myself relive my childhood to adolescence.
