Moxie Theatre and The Moxie’s sock it to us again with “peerless”

“peerless” by Jiehae Park marks Moxie Theatre’s 50^th production. It’s not a perfect play by any stretch of the term, but artistic director Delicia Turner Sonnenberg has socked it to us again with power punch performances that hold our attention and play with our imaginations.

The Women themed theatre and themes of this madness about college acceptance, minorities and fierce competition getting into some of the better colleges when that time comes are at the crux. When yours truly applied to college, it was all about quotas. Look that one up.

In The La Jolla Playhouses now production “Tiger Style”, Chinese –Americans Albert and Jennifer came with all privileges and advantages of upper the class community. From the very best of everything, including piano and cello lessons to admission to Harvard and Juilliard, college was no problem. Getting top salaried jobs was not a problem. Society and the prejudices it fostered became the problem.

“M” (Dana Wing Lau) and “L” (Jyl Kaneshiro) are twins. They are also of Asian descent. They are also smart, talented and determined to get into THE College of their choice. M applies and L assures her that she will most definitely make the cut. Unlike the La Jolla brother and sister, they are not as confident.

To get a leg up they move to a small midwestern (nowheresville for the sake of geographical diversity) town as seniors in high school and begin the process of applying to colleges. The thought that minorities and women would have a better chance of making the cut became their saving last hope.

Little did they anticipate that there would be competition, like their nerdy classmate D/D’s brother (Justin Lang) when they learn he is 1/16^th Native American. “I’m a girl. Double minority. (M) Minority vagina. Affirmative action. (L) Its not like your black”.

Things that used to make a difference in what a college was looking for are thrown into the hopper and what the twins encounter in real time and their solutions make this rapid -fire 75-minute dark comedy alarming and chilling.

There is also a love/ hate relationship going on between the twins that is not evident from the beginning.  In our first meeting with them one might suppose that they were almost joined at the hip. They hold hands, finish each other’s sentences, dress alike and on some level know what the other is thinking before the words are out.

And while they argued about how they might achieve their ultimate goal, the dominant one L usually won out. They acted as one and the only way we could tell them apart was the color flower in their hair and backpack on their shoulders. (Shelly Williams)

Dana Wing Lau and Jyl Kaneshiro

Only one will be admitted to the coveted slot. That would leave the other to wait a year before applying to the same school. Pressure is the operative word here. What steps would they take to eliminate the competition? This push me/pull you contest is something else to watch as the girls spar over the possibilities; peanut laden cookies that he’s allergic to? Poison?  Would they actually kill for this spot? Hmmmm.

The small but effective five -member cast fits the bill for this little romp through the world of college applications and special circumstance acceptance. Lau and Kaneshiro are perfect as the twins playing good cop/bad cop and keeping the rhythm of the high school voice intact.

As the play progresses Kaneshiro’s L becomes more aggressive changing the dynamic from intense to very intense and almost giving the ending away.

Justin Lang all but steals the show as the nerdy brother who nonchalantly goes about his business and doesn’t seem to get what’s about to happen to him. After that fateful day that the letter of acceptance drops down from nowhere the die is cast.  Lang has appeared in 11 shows at Moxie and is always in top form. He does't disappoint.

Vimel Sephus is BF M’s former boyfriend. Of the five he lends some sanity to the group and Jennifer Eve Thorn is scary looking hovering, predicting and menacing in her dreadlocks and all black but tacky looking outfits.

Ashleigh Scott’s high school locker room set, a few chairs with room for projections fits the bill and AJ Paulin’s lighting design sets the mood.

Park says of the play that it “is inspired by Shakespeare’s Macbeth or the Scottish Play. Dirty Girl (Jennifer Eve Thorn) represents the three witches, M is Macbeth and L Lady Macbeth, D is Duncan and the college admission is the throne of Scotland”. Far be it from yours truly to argue that point with the playwright, I just never saw the connection while in the moment. In hindsight I can put it together on a small ‘m’ Macbeth scale.  

Park’s “peerless” doesn’t need Shakespeare’s help in getting her point across. It can stand on its own as an essay of what we’ve become as a society that allows us to cheat the system, or better yet to kill off our competition to get what we want.

See you at the theatre.

Dates: Through Oct. 9th

Organization: Moxie Theatre

Phone: 858-598-7620

Production Type: Comedy

Where: 6663 El Cajon Blvd. Ste. N, San Diego, CA 92115

Ticket Prices: Gen. Admission $30.00

Web: moxietheatre.com

 Photo: Jennifer Eve Thorn