It was the role and experience of a lifetime and I will be forever grateful to this wonderful cast, outstanding crew, Jennifer Chang, Lloyd Suh, Johanna Pfaelzer, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and everyone who came to see THE FAR COUNTRY. This, Lloyd Suh’s outstanding Pulitzer Prize Finalist play, brilliantly directed by Jennifer Chang at Berkeley Repertory Theatre is truly one of the best and most meaningful things I’ve ever been a part of. I’m so grateful that I’ve been able to come home and share this story that’s essentially about my family, with my family. In the words of Gee, I say THANK YOU.
I wasn't the only one who loved this production:
SFist: ‘The Far Country’ at Berkeley Rep Is a Glorious Historical Epic About a Terrible Chapter In SF History
The two lead actors Tommy Bo (as the young Moon Gyet) and Feodor Chin (the witty antihero Gee) pull off very convincing portrayals of men in two different twenty-year intervals of their lives... The Far Country does feel like a great, stirring, sprawling historical epic, despite being just seven actors on a small stage in a modest-budget production. Chang’s direction takes you on a journey across continents and generations, in a small production whose emotional impact punches way above its weight. And for Bay Area theatergoers, this depiction of what happened here 100 years ago will hit very close to home.
Broadway World: Review: THE FAR COUNTRY at Berkeley Repertory Theatre - Against the backdrop of the racist Chinese Exclusion Act (1882-1943), the compelling story of one group of Chinese immigrant’s perseverance unfolds.
Moon Gyet is just a teen in Taishan, China when his impoverished mother, Low (Tess Lina is fierce and loving), finds herself at the mercy of her circumstances when she agrees to pay a Chinese man named Gee (Feodor Chin is wonderful) to take her son to America. Tales of gold and opportunity have reached even her small village... What follows is both riveting and disturbing...
The Far Country is a beautiful tale that resonates with history – one that is largely unknown to most of us. It is the story of how war and poverty can and does tear families apart. Yet Lloyd Suh shows us in his magnificent play that sometimes the bonds formed from necessity can, over time, be a gift to future generations. Please put The Far Country on your must-see list.
San Francisco Chronicle - Datebook: Review: Berkeley Rep’s ‘The Far Country,’ set on Angel Island, probes the promise and lie of immigration
When characters spar over tangible, immediate stakes, the script crackles. Reversals hinge on lines as sharp as surgical incisions, and the thoughtful cast members uncover whole universes behind the simplest phrases. Whether in the U.S. or China, each land requiring strategic performances of different selves, [Feodor] Chin’s Gee takes deep pride in his cleverness, even flipping his hat in self-congratulation.
Berkshire Fine Arts: The Far Country: Berkeley Rep's Fine Version of a Drama Set in Nearby Environs
[Feodor] Chin offers a magnetic tour de force performance that sets the stage for the whole play. As Gee, a Chinese man resident in San Francisco, he wishes to travel to China, purportedly to bring his son to the United States. He lacks proof of his right to be in the United States, and all of the immigration and naturalization records generated at Angel Island were destroyed by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The restrictions of the Exclusion Act compounded by the loss of records spawned a massive cottage industry, with Chinese like Gee concocting elaborate origin stories in hopes of gaining permanence in “Gold Mountain,” as the U.S. was known in China... In other scenes with changes in dramatic tension, Gee will reveal two personality transformations that not only enrich Chin’s characterization, but add to the kudos his acting deserves.
Bay Area Reporter: 'The Far Country' at Berkeley Rep: Lloyd Suh's straight-ahead theatrical satisfaction
[Feodor] Chin delivers an even more thrillingly multidimensional characterization of Gee, the complexity of which is not revealed until the subsequent scene, when he has returned to rural China to fetch teenage Moon (Tommy Bo) from his mother. Suh's script features a genuine surprise here, and Chin delivers it with an audience-destabilizing sting.
Local News Matters - Bay Area: Review: Berkeley Rep’s ‘Far Country’ an affecting look at Chinese immigrants on Angel Island
In the rapid-fire first act of Lloyd Suh’s affecting drama “The Far Country” onstage at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Gee (Feodor Chin), a clownishly jolly Chinese laundry owner in San Francisco, is being interrogated by an immigration official.
Because Gee’s English is halting, an interpreter is present, rapidly translating back and forth whenever Gee’s abbreviated English turns accent-less and fluid (indicating that he’s lapsed into Chinese) or when the interrogator’s queries become complex. It’s a clever device that requires two characters to say the exact same thing almost simultaneously, giving the scene a texture that feels both dizzying and harmonious.
...Gee, who, as it turns out in the next scene, is no clown at all, is one such sponsor; he’s a sharp entrepreneur all right, fleshed out by Suh and Chin.
KQED: ‘The Far Country’ Explores Memory, Family and Angel Island’s Detention Horrors
Despite the conventional belief that Angel Island functioned similarly to Ellis Island in New York, the island was primarily a detention center, devoid of any romanticism for those yearning to breathe free. It is there where we first meet Gee (Feodor Chin) as he is interrogated by an American inspector (Aaron Wilton), assisted by his interpreter (Whit K. Lee).
Gee is charming and funny, stating that his paperwork proving American citizenship was destroyed in the infamous earthquake three years earlier. Through Chin’s commitment to each critical moment, Gee moves from professional groveler to shrewd businessman in the span of the exchange, making one wonder about his authenticity. Is he the soft soul that made the grizzled, white inspector smile, or a soulless heathen only interested in favorable transactions — or both?
Theatrius: “THE FAR COUNTRY” EXPOSES TORTURE OF CHINESE ON ANGEL ISLAND—AT BERKELEY REP
[Playwright Lloyd] Suh powerfully presents the struggle between callous officials and a San Francisco laundry worker named Gee (exuberant Feodor Chin). In a grim interrogation room, a heartless officer (Aaron Wilton) badgers Gee, while he plays the accommodating “Chinaman” and friendly countryman. Gee takes a performer’s delight in his adopted country—which is trying to deport him.
Berkeleyside: ‘The Far Country’ lyrically explores the complexity of the Chinese American immigration experience - Lloyd Suh’s play universalizes three generations of one family’s immigration story in its West Coast premiere at the Berkeley Rep.
The Far Country begins in San Francisco in 1909 during the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882-1943), where a Chinese man, Gee (excellent Feodor Chin), tries to establish his American birthright... Gee needs to solidify his status through oral testimony so he can travel to China and return with his son to San Francisco. His confidence, bonhomie and command of English undoubtedly helped his cause since we next see Gee in Taishan, China.
But it’s not as we expect...
You can dig deeper with more rave reviews from 48hills, Theatre Eddys, Stage and Cinema, and Talkin' Broadway.
Comments