Lab Space kicks of this season with an engaging Theater Ignite production of Kristen Thomson’s challenging I, Claudia. This one actor tour-de-force will leave you laughing sympathetically for the lost dreams of each character.
Derek Kwan (關顯揚) stars as the one who must pull off four different roles (two male and two female). Each requires a different voice, mood and emotion as all subtly or not so subtly reveal their “shit luck” experiences with life.
The main protagonist is Claudia, an emotional pre-teen who draws most of our sympathy. Her life is on overload as she copes with puberty, her parents’ divorce, lack of popularity at school and a failing science project.
Photo courtesy of JJ Chen
The school custodian, Drachman, allows Claudia to use the basement as a hideaway to sort out her troubles. Before he immigrated to Canada, he dreamed of being an actor, but premature baldness at age twenty-two cut that short. He closes the play with a folk tale of wisdom gained through tears of disappointment.
As Douglas, Claudia’s aging grandfather, Kwan has to slow down. Douglas loves Claudia but is lost in his own grief over the recent death of his wife.
And then there is Leslie, the party girl, who after dating several assholes lands David, Claudia’s father. She has bounced through life with little heed for the destruction in her wake but she feels her upcoming marriage will be a way to thumb her nose at her relations and show them she got it right in the end.
Separate masks for each character along with simple costume changes allow Kwan to masterfully focus on the required multiple changes of temperament.
Claudia’s parents are unseen but like any child who has experienced divorce, she hopes to bring them back together. We delight in her honesty and simple judgment yet feel for her pain.
Climate change, political headwinds and diverging market dynamics around the world have pushed coffee prices to fresh records, jacking up the cost of your everyday brew or a barista’s signature macchiato. While the current hot streak may calm down in the coming months, experts and industry insiders expect volatility will remain the watchword, giving little visibility for producers — two-thirds of whom farm parcels of less than one hectare. METEORIC RISE The price of arabica beans listed in New York surged by 90 percent last year, smashing on Dec. 10 a record dating from 1977 — US$3.48 per pound. Robusta prices have
The resignation of Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) co-founder Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) as party chair on Jan. 1 has led to an interesting battle between two leading party figures, Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) and Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如). For years the party has been a one-man show, but with Ko being held incommunicado while on trial for corruption, the new chair’s leadership could be make or break for the young party. Not only are the two very different in style, their backgrounds are very different. Tsai is a co-founder of the TPP and has been with Ko from the very beginning. Huang has
A few years ago, getting a visa to visit China was a “ball ache,” says Kate Murray. The Australian was going for a four-day trade show, but the visa required a formal invitation from the organizers and what felt like “a thousand forms.” “They wanted so many details about your life and personal life,” she tells the Guardian. “The paperwork was bonkers.” But were she to go back again now, Murray could just jump on the plane. Australians are among citizens of almost 40 countries for which China now waives visas for business, tourism or family visits for up to four weeks. It’s
A dozen excited 10-year-olds are bouncing in their chairs. The small classroom’s walls are lined with racks of wetsuits and water equipment, and decorated with posters of turtles. But the students’ eyes are trained on their teacher, Tseng Ching-ming, describing the currents and sea conditions at nearby Banana Bay, where they’ll soon be going. “Today you have one mission: to take off your equipment and float in the water,” he says. Some of the kids grin, nervously. They don’t know it, but the students from Kenting-Eluan elementary school on Taiwan’s southernmost point, are rare among their peers and predecessors. Despite most of
RSS