In association with Why Not Theatre and Broadleaf Creative. Photo by Jae Yang.
The Toronto Theatre Review: Tarragon Theatre’s Benevolence
By Ross
The roots of our Canadian existence have grown up elbows high from the melting pot of immigration, and for most of us, where we came from is as important as where we are going. The majority of us know that we are mostly guests on this land, with some or all of our ancestors coming from far and away to find sanctuary in this fine land. The heartfelt curiosity about our heritage and personal identity is the framing at the heart of this touching, new one-person play making its world premiere at Tarragon Theatre. Benevolence, as presented in association with Why Not Theatre and Broadleaf Creative, is an emotionally kind investigation and journey, ushered into our open laps by “some kid who lost his culture.” As created and performed by Kevin Matthew Wong (The Chemical Valley Project), the piece is an energetic yet gentle, authentically felt promise to try to learn about our own pounding lid marching history. Lovingly crafted, it explores Wong’s way to look forward and unpack his personal and layered Chinese-Canadian tale that spans continents, migrations, and generations, but always leads us back home.
The open-hearted Wong, who is also credited with the video and projection design with a casual nudging help from set and lighting designer Echo Zhou 周芷 (Stratford’s Cymbeline), sound designer Chris Ross-Ewart (Coal Mine’s The Sound Inside), and dramaturg Yizhou Zhang (TheatreLab’s Sky of Darkness), focuses his engagement on how being a guest in a new land is fraught with challenges that revolve around cultural preservation while also balancing a true sense of belonging. He is a Hakka-Chinese Canadian, but one who has been challenged to hold on and understand what it means to be Hakka. This was a question or complexity that was never at the forefront of his mind until, out of the blue and in the middle of a story, his life is interrupted by an energetic and engaging phone call from a spirited Hakka (客家) woman, asking him to write a solo play about their somewhat shared identity. “For seniors. In Markham.” And with that message, an inquisitive seed was planted.
In association with Why Not Theatre and Broadleaf Creative. Photo by Jae Yang.
The Hakka (客家), we are told, are defined by a tendency to be migrators, in a way; forged from a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the southern provinces of China and who speak a language that is closely related to Gan, a Han Chinese dialect spoken in Jiangxi province. They came from the north and are differentiated from other southern Han Chinese by their ever-migrating, dispersed nature and tendency to occupy marginal lands and remote hilly areas. They seem to be always guests in an inhospitable land. Welcomed or not, the Chinese characters for Hakka (客家) literally mean “guest families”, and for Wong, it becomes increasingly necessary for him to understand his connection to the “guest” formulation and its meaning as he, and those around him who he meets on this journey, call Canada their home.
It’s a catchy, connecting interruption, played with great humor and an appealing presence by this astute theatre creator, as he takes us gently by the hand and guides us through his pseudo-documentarian style of a one-person narrative. The piece could have probably used an outside hand in its direction to tighten up the narrative and give it a deeper dive dynamic. But as is, Wong has created a rewarding and kind experience of internalized need for cultural connection and understanding. Through video encounters, loving interviews, and projected compilations, Wong unpacks his coming-to-terms constructions about the joy and mystery of his Hakka (客家) culture. And in that framing, we learn more about him, his culture, his community, while also learning about our own internal need for connection to our cultural past. As he guides us through his sweet and engaging interactions, speaking with elders and members of his community that span this country, we are given a lovingly warm light and connection to his unapologetic joy and authentic care, which speaks gently to the Benevolence of his heart and soul.
In association with Why Not Theatre and Broadleaf Creative. Photo by Jae Yang.
