Chinese Friends
Memorabilia Available
Chinese Friends
by Jon Robin Baitz
The play is set in the year 2030, on a New England island compound inhabited by Arthur Brice (Peter Strauss), a former professor and politico living in comfortable, self-imposed exile from the decaying America that lies across the water. Washing up on his shores one day is his estranged college-dropout son Ajax (Tyler Francavilla), accompanied by two friends who share his free-thinking, free-loving ways. They’re a new breed: hippie nihilists. It’s not long before the generation gap is sparking feisty debates about the state of the country that clue us in to both Brice’s past and Baitz’s vision of America’s immediate future. Back in ’08, Brice was a policy adviser to an administration that tried but failed to reverse the “arrogant policies” of prior presidents “that have caused so much human suffering.” Their failure left the “dynasty of cowboys and corporate criminals” in charge, and the world is now in ruins: “The United Nations has collapsed, Social Security is gone, people are fighting wars over clean water … .”
Run
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Opening & Closing Dates
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Type & Version
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Theatre
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May 25, 2004 - Jun 13, 2004
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Play / Original
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Playwrights Horizons , NY, USA
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Opening Night Cast
| Actors |  |
|
| Name | Role | |
| Tyler Francavilla | Ajax | |
| Will McCormack | Stephan | |
| Peter Strauss | Arthur Brice | |
| Bess Wohl | Alegra |
Opening Night Production Credits
| Playwrights Horizons, Producer |
| Tim Sanford, Artistic Director |
| Leslie Marcus, Managing Director |
| Jon Robin Baitz, Playwright |
| Obadiah Eaves, Original Music |
| Robert Egan, Director |
| Joseph Travers, Fight Director |
| Santo Loquasto, Set Designer |
| Laura Bauer, Costume Designer |
| Donald Holder, Lighting Designer |
| Obadiah Eaves, Sound Designer |
| William Russo, General Manager |
| James Latus, Production Stage Manager |
| Athena Gam, Assistant Stage Manager |
| Christopher Boll, Production Manager |
| James Calleri, Casting |
Critical Reception
The sci-fi flavor of ”Chinese Friends” doesn’t mask the feeling that it is made up of leftovers of other, better Baitz works, of recycled themes boiled down to bare bones. As in ”Substance” and ”Unknowns,” Mr. Baitz pits a formidable, ethically elusive man against three members of a younger generation. And while this playwright is, as always, to be commended for refusing to side unconditionally with any of his characters, there is little psychological credibility in their portrayal here.
Nor, aside from the suave Mr. Strauss, who brings a steely spark to Brice’s contained coldness, are the performers remotely persuasive, leaning instead toward a stilted delivery that suggests that youth and spontaneity do not, after all, go together. :NY Times 05/28/2005
External Links
Chinese Friends Full New York Times Review
Chinese Friends at Off Broadway Lortel Archives Database
Category: Play
