Review-Don Yuan-Aurora Theatre
5-6-14
By: Tom Hope
Don Juan (aka Don Giovannni, Don Jon etc) is the ultimate princeling - a super-hero of hedonism, living out the licentiousness at the heart of each of us.
What more appropriate, then, to reinvent him in the context of modern China as 'Don Yuan' (punning on money and manhood), a Porsche driving party animal (and member) super-stud, complete with a British side-kick and a string (or should that be 'straddle') of multi-cultural conquests?
Peter Gordon's sinofication of the myth makes the most of its satirical potential, referencing the infantilities of social media, celebrity culture and the ‘little emperor’ brats of wealthy PLA parents served up in a sex-on-the-Hong-Kong-academic-rocks cocktail. With smart one liners aplenty from Don Yuan and his playmates alike, the audience was laughing out loud from the get-go. And the cast gives the script plenty of buck for its bang, keeping the tempo up and the tone down.
So what's not to like? Well, for me, it's the superficiality of mocking the superficial. 'Don Juan', at heart, only works if he appears to have one, cos only then do you care when he gets his come-uppance. This Don Yuan is not someone I'd care to meet, let alone be shagged by. OK, I'm a bloke and there's no accounting for how many women can be swept away by a man with looks, lolly and a lot of longing. But that doesn't make me care for them or him.
It's a problem I have with the Don Juan myth at a general level: when he's presented as a super-lover loving himself above all, I'm just not interested. Inject wit into the mix (as Byron brilliantly did) and I’m laughing at the characters rather than with them. So he gets his come-uppance eventually? So it's a car crash that (for me) can't happen too soon - so I can get out of the theatre and start doing my own Don Juan thing for myself, maybe...
Johnny Depp made me care. In 'Don Juan DeMarco’, he romanced me just the same way he romanced each of his conquests and, as he worked so hard to make each moment magical, pretty soon I was wishing him luck with each and every seduction.
Alan Chang, by contrast, in the lead role for this production, had his work cut out to make his Don likeable because all it took was a click of his fingers for the next woman in line to fall at his feet.
Ok, so we get to question how much we'd really like it if we had infinite access to lashings of guilt-free sex, drugs and fast cars but - well, is that really all there is to this? How about exploring the world of the modern sex addict - or drug addict - or money-and-power addict - in the context of a China where traditional Confucian values want these things swept under the carpet, except for the occasional show trial?
With that off my chest, I’ll say how much I enjoyed the way this show works its material as best it can. Sandra Smedhall, Yolanda Calzado and Jen Lok each made the most of their characters as the Don’s rotating love interests. Alex Wilkins was nicely down-and-dead-beat as his British ‘ockney pal and Leo Wong and Toh Han Shih were commendably capable in their supporting roles.
The scene-stealing, however, was outside the narrative’s rough and tumble. Director Nicole Garbellini’s coup-de-theatre is to end each half with a dazzling tango dance display by Antimo Russo and Evelyn Yip, who together run the Sirio Dance Studio in Central. Their professionalism shows in every move - but so does the sensuality and sinousness of their East-meets-West partnership. It's a brilliant metaphor for how a modern Don might, by the power of his passion, electrify the senses and elicit a rapture of abandonment to the moment with every conquest he makes. If a way could have been found to meld this ‘lording of the dance’ into the main narrative, an always watchable show might well have transcended the trappings of this particular myth and moved it into a very special place indeed.
Don Yuan is playing at the Fringe Club through June 7th. For more information, click here.
Comments
David Janke
I'm sorry, but it's Alan Chang, not Alan Cheng. I also disagree that Leo Wong's role was supporting. Alongside Alan, he was definitely a main character.
05 June 2014
I feel that while the storyline had its flaws, the China narrative was blazingly obvious, and the Don Yuan is a very recognizable amalgamation of three sons of Chinese officialdom, namely: Li Tianyi, Bo Guagua and Li Qiming. The 'show trial' aspect is touched upon in Anna's father's line in Mandarin which he reads out to Don in ghost form, drawn verbatim from the show trial of Bo Xilai. Just some background info for you. :)
Honest
This was awful. Awful play. Awful acting. Just awful.
05 June 2014Judy
I disagree that the pacing was good. I thought that part of the show was quite poor but I loved the tango dancers.
06 June 2014Trish
It’s hard to tell if this was even a good play to start with, the appalling acting was such a focus of the night - especially from the professor and the 3 girls, the sharp head turns and fake tears made me cringe. The hammy put on cockny accent from the side kick was very irritating as well. The jumping between 2 scenes could have been interesting but it was so poorly directed you could practically see the rehearsal process and script as you watched. The best part of the show was the mildly entertaining completely random and unnecessary (and inexcusably long) tango that kept us in there for a few more painful minutes.
07 June 2014