Review:
Independence
by Lee Blessing
ReAct
7/97

"This is a story about three daughters and their different ways of struggling to achieve independence from an unstable, manipulative, but pitifully lonely mother...

"Not much happens. Kess shows up; old friendships and old demons are revived; the result is mainly a lot of knotty, abrasive talk...The point, rather, is that we all have to become independent of our parents, and that all ways of doing it are cruel from the parents' point of view. Blessing's characters talk about and around this issue so well that no other narrative trajectory is necessary.

"All four actresses stumble over their lines from time to time, but all four carry emotional conviction, and they sound like a real family...Fitting out this small-town Midwest story with an Asian-American cast could have been an attempt to turn Blessing's play into a daring statement about the special isolation of racial minorities.

"Wisely, though, David Hsieh directs it straight: The ethnicity of the actors is meant to be, and becomes, simply irrelevant.

"Much to his credit, Hsieh concentrates on Blessing's words, and by choosing a deliberate pace, slower than you might expect in many scenes, he gives them enough space to do their work. His set design underlines the point: The hat stand, the aspidistra and the crocheted, white couch cover are homages to the original, not reinterpretations of it."

Richard Farr, Seattle Times

"ReAct's production is a smoothly run affair. The set, costumes and lighting were all carefully chosen. The successive scenes flowed without mishap to create a cohesive whole.

"Hsieh said that he chose the work because, "It's one of the few plays I know of with four equally strong female parts. And, also, the roles stretch the abilities of our regular actors."

"However, the production's strength lies not in the individual portrayals but in the interactions among the four actors. On stage, Parker, Nakamura, Hsieh and Liem are comfortable with one another and their familiarity underscores the intimate-albeit disturbed-relationships of the characters. In particular, the scenes in which the three sisters bounce their idiosyncrasies off each other are notable for their vivid realism. There is no uplifting spirit in Blessing's story about this maladjusted brood of women. The play's merit rests in its tense presentation of the darker side of the American family."

Yoshiko Saheki, International Examiner

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