The middle class American kitchen, an institution of bonding, can sometimes provide insight into the character of the family that inhabits it.
On the basis of their kitchen, the Wongs, an Asian-American family depicted in GENseng’s upcoming production of “Ching Chong Chinaman,” are meticulous, sharp-edged and artificial.
“[The Wongs] only seem like a lovely American perfect family on the surface, but underneath … they don’t know who they are,” Director and professor of theatre Randy Kaplan said. “They don’t know what their Chinese-American culture is.”
“Chinaman,” written by Lauren D. Yee, pokes resonant fun at stereotypes associated with Asian-American families. It chronicles the well-to-do Wong family’s struggle to understand its Chinese cultural heritage in the context of its American upbringing.
The central feature of “Chinaman’s” deceptively minimalistic set in the Robert Sinclair Black Box Theatre is the family’s spotless, two-dimensional kitchen, designed by Kaplan’s son Caledonia-Mumford High School senior Max Kaplan.
“I thought this would be a cool experience for me to design my first set for a college show,” he said. “I thought that was a unique opportunity.”
Randy and Max Kaplan installed the kitchen setting between April 19 and 20. They were able to achieve two-dimensional perfection by creating the scene out of bright-colored spike tape rather than paint or chalk on the theater’s upstage wall and two small wings.
“It comes out perfect,” Randy Kaplan said. “Everything is clean. Nothing is touched. There are no crumbs. There’s no mess. Of course, none of our kitchens are really that way.”
According to Randy Kaplan, through their collaboration as director and designer, she and her son worked to capture the complexities of the Wong family’s Chinese-American heritage and upper-middle class lifestyle while still allowing human components to shine through.
This particular production of “Chinaman” is set in a suburb of Rochester, rather than Yee’s intended setting in Palo Alto, Calif. To exhibit the location, all of the food in the play is Wegmans brand.
“I want this to be close to home,” Randy Kaplan said. “Everybody knows this family. This is not some family off in Chinatown or in San Jose or Santa Barbara. This is Rochester.”
As per the typical GENseng set design, “Chinaman” is very austere aside from the kitchen, most locational settings comprised of a chair or two and a black panel. The minimal approach allows Randy Kaplan to place more emphasis on the actors, many of whom are participating in their first theatrical production. She described GENseng as “a training ground for actors.”
The GENseng staging is the first university production of “Chinaman.” In professional performances of the play, the set is typically more realistic, according to Randy Kaplan.
In contrast, she described the black box set as “cartoonish,” comparing it to “The Simpsons” or a sitcom.
“When you see the play, you’ll understand why there are things about the set that are bizarre, because the family is bizarre,” she said.
“Ching Chong Chinaman” will run May 2-3 at 7 p.m. and May 4 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the Brodie Box Office.