The children, now grown, are close in the way that children often become when they are abandoned by one or both their parents. The baby brother it seems will find his salvation in rock n roll. The sister has gone through two husbands. The older brother assures his father that he gets his share of “blonds”. If there’s kimchee involved, the taste of American Pie comes to dominate the meal.
AMERICAN HWANGAP view of Korean-American culture
In fact, taking in this play with a Korean-American friend whose father disappeared and then reappeared around the time of his Hwangap, just like the characters in this story, she wonders if the liberties with Korean-American culture went a step too far. It’s not a common Korean tale, actually, these Hwangap-driven reunions with Dads that had gone missing. Would Korean born immigrants like the mother and father in this family’s story say things like Korean culture is “f**ed up” or such a father refer to his daughter as a “tightass”? Hmm…
There seem to be more than a few loose ends in Lloyd Suh’s script, with some puzzling asides by the characters that one would hope will be left on the cutting room floor in future re-stagings of this play. Yet there is also many a line that gave various audience members a good belly laugh.
Best scenes
The best scenes are the two in the opening. First, we meet Jin Kim as Ralph Chun, who immediately establishes himself as quirky and loveable. He is wearing a ceremonial robe that his father, the Hwangap celebrant, would usually be wearing, but never mind that.
