What I liked
The performances are striking, deep, thoughtful, fearless, and intimate! I was especially interested in the layered relationship between Baby San and Dinky Dau. The direction was clean and fierce with a great sense of humor… Sargeant’s intro scene is the prime example of it. It is quick-witted and fast, with characters that behave at natural but incredible military-induced pace, and I love!!! Plays are so slow sometimes!!!
What I didn't like
The non-linear storytelling/ interwoven scenes serve the plot and circumstance so well that it must be that way, but I wonder if there are new ways to signal the changing of time so that I could keep better track, or if I should’ve had better sleep before I saw it!
I also might wish that it had commented more thoroughly on the racism, misogyny, and internalized hatred of the characters, but I might also be fine with it sticking moreso to a direct-translation of what happened then, without much modern context.
My overall impression
A fierce play that gut punches the audience in the way an exceptional one does! On one side it’s funny — it’s chalk-full of quick-wit and sly comments and physical comedy, but on the other side, the dark horrors of its context reveal that any good humor is informed by deep sadness — there’s this sheer need for it. But we feel, at all times, both sides.
