THE GREAT LEAP by Carol Kaufman Segal

            

The Pasadena Playhouse, in association with The East West Players, presents the Los Angeles premiere of Lauren Yee’s The Great Leap.  The play is directed by Tony Award winner BD Wong who starred in the New York off-Broadway Atlantic Theatre and San Francisco American Conservatory Theatre productions of the play. 

           

It is 1989 and Manford (Justin Chien), a high-school senior in San Francisco is longing to join the American team going to Beijing to compete with the Beijing University basketball team in an exhibition game considered a “friendly match”.  He sneaks into The San Francisco University during a practice period to plead with Coach Saul (James Eckhouse) to be placed on the team.  Coach Saul is not convinced by him since he is not out of high school yet and also because he is too self-assured about his ability.  But when Saul discovers that his ability is everything he says it is, he acquiesces.

            

The plot then turns back to 1971 when we find Saul in Beijing who is there at the request of the government to help train the Beijing University team and, perhaps, looking for them to become more competitive. There he works with Coach Wen Chang  (Grant Chang) who also narrates the story.   In Saul’s attempt to explain the crux of the game to Wen Chang in order to win, we learn the differences in the mind-set of the games played by American athletes as opposed to those played by the Chinese and why the difference.

            

Returning to 1989, Manford’s mother has recently died and his cousin Connie (Christine Lin) has taken it upon herself to look out for him.  When he tells her about his plans to go to Beijing to play in the “friendly match”, she is against his going there, but he eventually convinces her that he should go even though she has concerns.

           

When Saul and his team, along with Manford, arrive in Beijing, the heart of the story begins to untangle.  After 18 years, Saul and Wen Chang meet once again, only this time as adversaries, and the understanding of each character becomes an important part of the entire story.  Bo Won’s direction is flawless and the four actors are brilliant in their roles.  This is a very different and worthwhile production that gives us insight into an otherwise different culture.

            

The Great Leap continues at the Pantages Playhouse, 39 South El Molino Ave., Pasadena, through December, 1, 2019.  Performances are Tuesdays through Fridays at 8 PM, Saturdays at 2 PM and 8 PM, and Sundays at 2 PM and 7 PM.  Tickets are available online at PasadenaPlayhouse.org, by phone at (626) 356-7529, or in person at the Playhouse Box Office at their site.

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