Word: bibi
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Letters to a Student Revolutionary is a powerful production that swells between moments of extreme emotional drama and wonderful humor. It is the story of a ten-year friendship between an Chinese-American woman and her mirror image in China, which begins with Bibi's (Angela Hur '02) 1979 family tour of China while she is in her late teens...
...charming details of this play strengthen Bibi and Karen's (June Mee Kim '00) authentic performances. The minimal set includes a banner that drapes above the audience and includes us in the conflict between the jail-barred motif of the Chinese half of the banner and the American stars and stripes that is at the heart of this play. From the very beginning, color is central to the understanding of the contrasts between China and the consumerist American society with which Bibi identifies herself. Bibi comes onto the stage dressed in rainbow colors; in contrast, the only colors that...
...script is subtle and complex, and this production takes full advantage of its depth. Nor is it one-sided: as we learn from a ten-year correspondence (often wonderfully interactive on stage) between Karen and Bibi, Karen feels stifled by the oppressive Chinese regime that imposes the role of a "good citizen" on its people at the expense of the individual. Karen feels like "a beautiful bird in a cage" whose colors will never be seen nor its song heard. Reading about America and the freedom allowed in the West in books sent by Bibi only makes Karen more depressed...
...originality of this play lies in the fact that Bibi too has problems, despite the freedoms of America. This play does not idealize American society--the only quibble one might have with the play is that it never mentions any positive aspects of Chinese culture, perhaps because it is written from a Chinese-American viewpoint. Bibi's problems include a lack of direction and dissatisfaction with her career in journalism--her dilemma stems from an overabundance of choices. While Bibi's problem lies in too many men from which to choose, Karen can only choose one. Bibi complains of quickly...
...dramatic moments of this play do not tend toward melodrama; they reveal the talents of Hur and Kim. The loss of Karen's mother, the collapse and death of Bibi's father, and of course the Massacre itself are such powerful moments that very real emotion travels between Bibi and Karen and reverberates through the audience. Bibi and Karen seem to be connected through their experiences. Throughout their friendship, they learn that they have much in common, and although the premise is that they are never reunited after their first encounter, they often speak directly and even touch across...