Dieng Cultural Festival 2014 (Photo : Getty Images)
As the world’s factory, China churns out a variety of products from Donald Trump face masks to sex toys, electric cars and cattle embryo. The human rights abuses in China’s millions of factories, many of which have sweatshop conditions, are one of the two objects of commentary by an ongoing stage show in New York.
Middle-Age Romance
Aptly titled “Made in China,” the puppet show features a romance between two middle-aged people, while tackling China’s human rights violations and American consumerism, according to a New York Times review. The play is written and directed by Gwendolyn Warnock and Kirjan Waage. It runs from Jan. 11 through Feb. 19.
A presentation of the Wakka company at 59E59 Theaters, the puppet play has two key characters: Mary, a divorced grandmother who loves junk food, and Eddie, who was born in China but is neighbor of Mary who spends her time in shopping sprees. A Christmas tree ornament she purchased contains a note from a Chinese factory worker who seeks help in exposing to international human rights organizations the abuses they suffer.
Chinese Child Labor
Mary, voiced by Peter Russo, seeks the advice of Eddie, voiced by Ariel Estrada, who shows her that a lot of household products in the U.S. are actually manufactured in China, with labor provided by children in some factories. The two eventually end up in China as factory workers.
The review gave thumbs up to the songs by Yan Li which are mostly what theater goers would hear in a traditional American musical comedy, but with Chinese flavorings infused. The songs were performed by Miesemblet, a Norwegian chamber music group made up of four members, plus Max Mamon and Yan Li. Some of the songs are about the loneliness that the two characters go through and their growing affection for each other.
Timeout, which also reviewed “Made in China,” described the puppet show as defying labels. It noted that the production has elements of a ghost story, issue play, kung fu movie and porno. Although the reviewer finds the play a bit messy, he nevertheless is satisfied with its being packed with happy surprises and noted that its “personal plot is more sharply defined than the political one.”
