World Premiere of Julia Cho's "The Language Archive" at South Coast Rep
Julia Cho's award-winning play is a romantic comedy about the nature of communication. The production is exquisitely directed by Mark Brokaw and superbly acted by an expert ensemble featuring Leo Marks, Betsy Brandt (from one of my personal favorite shows - AMC’s “Breaking Bad”), Laura Heisler, Tony Amendola and Linda Gehringer, all of whom deliver a feast of delicious writing with a host of engaging and entertaining characters.
The theme of the play is intrinsically woven around our deepest need for both love and communication. The plot illustrates the unexpectedly poetic ways our choice of communication can either nurture or kill the unique organism which is created from a love shared only between two people.
Cho spotlights how important it is to cherish our "own languages," and what I found so extraordinary was how elegantly she does this without sentimentality, driving home the message that we can never have enough diversity in communicating our love for each other.
On a personal note, for a comedy, I will admit I shed more tears than I expected to, especially from a show I thought was billed as a "romantic comedy." However, I always cry when the earth moves, and move it did; right at the end of Act One. It was so well timed that my theater companion at first attributed it to great arts funding.
To be honest, the entire theatrical experience was a bit other worldly. Perhaps the earthquake helped contribute to this, but I could swear the show was actually musical due to the organic way Cho's dialogue unfolded, its imagery unfolding either so visually or movingly that it really felt like far more than words were being used.
Looking back I would not describe "The Language Archive" as a typical romantic comedy, but something else far more complex which I can vouch will unexpectedly linger with you long after leaving the theater.
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