A comfort to all who have dared to venture far from home.
Expatriated is a uniquely candid portrayal of what it is to move abroad. It highlights how experiences vary based on where you move to, your country of origin, or even your race. It looks at how different people are treated when they are viewed as an immigrant rather than an expat.
What I most appreciated about Expatriated was its simplicity. There were no tragedies or traumas, just an honest depiction of the experience of moving alone to the other side of the world. The script, written and performed by Candace Leung and Dominique Roberts, is very well put together. It flows very naturally and I would not be surprised if it were comprised of excerpts from the writers’ own lives. Every event and interaction within the story, big or small, served a purpose and allowed the viewer to gain real insight into the lives of foreigners living abroad.
Leung and Roberts both gave commendable performances in their roles, portraying four characters a piece. Leung’s portrayal of the immigrant who came from Hong Kong to California was particularly remarkable. The subtly with which she conveyed her emotions both in her expressions and her body language made her character’s experiences all the more real. Roberts is an equally talented actress though her primary ‘expat’ character lacked a certain degree of depth; this may be due to the script as many of the American characters came across rather vapid and shallow.
Performed in the intimate Hen and Chickens Bar theater, a few props combined with some well selected sound bytes and intelligently designed lighting to convey the various settings of the story. Sharon Tsang’s sound design enabled an immersive experience for the audience, drawing them into the crowded bar with Leung’s ‘immigrant’ or onto the bustling street of the Hong Kong market with Roberts’ ‘expat’. Rachel Bellis’ lighting completed the experience, signifying the passage of time and change of locations.
While a good show, Expatriated did suffer from a few minor issues revolving around their audio files. Voiceovers were used to represent several characters throughout the show, unfortunately they were not all perfectly executed. The recordings used to portray the main characters’ respective mothers were uncomfortably robotic and inhuman, lacking in emotion and detracting from the impact of the scenes in which they were included. Most problematic was the timing in the interactions between the actresses onstage and the voice overs; there were points at which the voice overs cut an actress off mid-sentence as well as awkwardly long pauses between a voice over and the actress’ response and vice versa. These however, are minor issues likely to work themselves out over the course of the shows’ run.
Expatriated is a very good show. The characters’ experiences may be difficult to empathize with for those who have never lived abroad, but if you are or have ever been an expat or an immigrant it is a comfort. This candid depiction of expat/immigrant life validates the experiences of foreigners living abroad; wonderfully, it does not shy away from either the highs or the lows of expat/immigrant life. Expatriated is a uniquely real story that is not to be missed.