Anchuli Felicia King’s Golden Shield at Manhattan Theater Club’s City Center Off-Broadway space examines connections and communication in a complex but plot-heavy way. A lawsuit against a multinational corporation is the main strand in Shield’s tapestry of a plot, but several other threads get woven in.
A nameless translator (charming and funny Fang Du) acts as our guide on a winding journey across three continents. Attorney Julie Chen (passionate Cindy Cheung) seeks to collect damages against a huge Dallas-based communications company for allegedly collaborating with the Chinese government in harassing, imprisoning and torturing dissidents who attempt to breach the country’s Internet firewall, the “golden shield” of the title.
The nature of translation and communication itself becomes the subject as the various players in the suit interact and the narrator offers pointed commentary. The corporation is represented by ruthless Marshall McLaren (Max Gordon Moore in another of his delightfully evil portrayals of villains). His prime objectives are maximizing profit, increasing Internet speed and displaying his vast technical intellect. If someone gets hurt in the process, well, that’s not his problem. Moore gives this hissable antagonist a human side, too.
The victims of the Chinese government are heartbreakingly played by Michael C. Liu as Li Dao, the main dissident and Kristin Hung as Huang Mei, his long-suffering wife. (Hung also doubles as brusk government official.) Ironically, Li Dao, like Marshall wants to multiply communication potential, but for the people of Chinese to gain access to the West, not for the government to spread propaganda. For this, he is arrested and crippled.
Eventually, the focus narrows to the fractured relationship between Julie and her wayward sister Eva (complex Rubio Qian), a fluent Mandarin speaker serving as Julie’s translator. The sisters’ troubled childhood and Evie’s sordid past involving drugs and prostitution emerges, indirectly impacting the lawsuit. King wants the siblings’ story to be the center of the play, but Li Dao’s harrowing experience haunt and overshadow their conflict.
In addition, there are storylines with an Australian advocate and the corporation’s shark-like lead attorney (both played with relish by Gillian Saker) as well as Marshall’s sheepish associate and Julie’s pragmatic boss (capable Daniel Jenkins in dual roles).
As you can see, there is a lot going in this busy play. King tackles many themes and ideas and manages to make them all clear, with the aid of a proficient cast and May Adrales’s focused direction. There’s plenty to chew on here, but one might prefer a leaner, more satisfying meal.
