In Atlantic Theater Company’s What Became of Us (at their Stage 2), as in the current Broadway revival of Home, the protagonists serve double duty as narrators. Both plays deal with returning to your roots after journeys of alienation. The plays’ structure could put audiences at a distance since we are being told what happens instead of being shown directly. Such plays usually work better as novels, but thanks to polished performances and insightful direction, the action is immediate and relatable, as borth works are heart-warming and full of home truths.
Shayan Lotfi’s What Became of Us also employs narration to tell a story of wandering and reclaiming the idea of home. The two-character piece is performed by two separate casts portraying siblings Q and Z. I saw Rosalind Chao and BD Wong (the other ensemble is Shohreh Aghdashloo and Tony Shalhoub).
Lofti’s script follows the lives of the siblings from birth and the journey from the “old country” through old age and death in “this country”—presumably the USA. The playwright omits specifics on the characters’ national origin so that actors of any ethnicity can play the roles. As in Home, both characters narrate much of the action, occasionally directly addressing and engaging each other.
The story is fairly familiar. Q and Z’s have a hardscrabble upbringing as their parents struggle to establish a new life after leaving an unstable home nation. Q, the sister, works hard in the family-owned store, makes sacrifices in her education and personal life while Z, the brother, rebels, striking out on his own to establish a separate identity from his immediate circle. After years of alienation and a trip to the home country by Q, the two reunite and reconnect.
Lotfi’s story is endearing, but too much of the play has Q and Z describing the events of their lives rather than living them in front of us. Some of Lotfi’s dialogue is striking and detailed, such a frightening store robbery endured by Q. Both Chao and Wong deliver flavorful, layered performances but are hampered by the static script as is director Jennifer Chang who does her best moving the two about on Tanya Orellana’s stark white set with a mobile bench-like piece as the sole piece of scenery. Reza Behjat’s lighting does most of the work to shift the scene and suggest setting. Despite lacking an imaginative spark, What Became of Us has charming and warm moments.
