By Zoe Trepanier
London has always been friendly to fringe theatre and new plays about current issues; Royal Court Theatre’s production of White Pearl handles and explores media today with promise and finesse. Australian playwright Anchuli Felicia King and NYC director Nana Dakin collaborate to bring a sleek, poppy, and all-too-present tale of racism within Asian cultures to the international stage.
Priya Singh (Farzana Dua Elahe) runs the board of Clearday, an international cosmetic company whose leading product, White Pearl, is a skin whitener marketed to Asian women. After Xiao Chen (Momo Yeung) okays a racist TV advertisement, mysterious Frenchman Marcel Benoit (Arty Froushan) makes the video go viral, putting the company under international fire.The seven-person cast includes only one man. The female dominated class does not discuss sexist issues besides a short discussion about how cosmetic marketing is meant to make women feel bad about themselves enough to buy a company’s makeup. The majority of the play focuses on racism. With the exception of Froushan, each actor is a from a different Asian country, and has a different perspective on the racist ad. What is interesting is that there are no black members of the cast, which is the demographic targeted by Clearday’s ad.
The fast pace and high, building intensity kept me on the edge of my seat for the duration of the show. There is not a single superfluous scene; the show is streamlined and keeps amping up the tension, like a roller coaster that only goes up. The quick action and growing YouTube views of the racist video are punctuated by scenes between Yeung and other members of the company, including head cosmetics scientist Soo-Jin Park (Minhee Yeo) and office manager Ruki Minami (Kanako Nakano). These scenes usually take place in one of the two bathrooms on set, and display the three actresses’ range of emotions and empathy toward their coworkers. This is a show about the kind of cruelty and hurt women can inflict on each other, which made these one-on-one moments in the bathroom feel more tender and human.
The acting choices are clear and motivated, and I felt like I could see each character’s thought process as they interact with their coworkers and make decisions that could alter the course of their company. Dua Elahe stands out in her journey as a strong, decisive CEO struggling to save her company. Although she plays one of the cruelest and easily unlikeable characters, Dua Elahe’s movements and words are definitive and purposeful. She dominates the stage and is definitely a force not to be reckoned with.
Technology is also a huge part of White Pearl. Characters use laptops and smartphones frequently. A transparent screen comes down between certain scenes and displays hate-filled YouTube comments taken from real-life videos. A section of the wall near the back of the stage displays the rising YouTube views count as the play continues. Videographer Ian William Galloway plays off of familiar real-life situations involving “online outrage” to add to the already high stakes.
The costume design, supervised by Lucy Walshaw, adds immensely to the modern, chic vibes. Built Suttikul (Kae Alexander) and Sunny Lee (Katie Leung) in particular look like women you might find on a street in Singapore or Los Angeles in a high-end neighborhood. Both actors play women on the cutting edge of new technology and cultural standards. Built’s short skirts and stylish top, and Sunny’s baggy “preppy” clothes feel in-tune with their positions of savvy, worldly members of the company.
Most of the audience was made up of adults. This was not a “kid-friendly” show and included strong language and sexual references. The show runs at just under an hour and a half and has no intermission (or interval, as they say in the UK). There is no re-entry, so enter the theater prepared to stay for the length of the show.
A fascinating look at racism through the eyes of the fashion industry, Royal Court Theatre’s White Pearl is well worth seeing in London. Get your tickets quick—the show ends soon.
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court Theatre presents White Pearlby Anchuli Felicia King.
Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, London SW1W 5000.
Tickets: £12 – £49.
May 10 – June 15, 2019, 7:30 PM, Thurs. and Sat. matinees 2:30 PM.
Contact: +44 (0)20 7565 5000 or boxoffice@royalcourttheatre.com
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