By Eric George Tauber
SAN DIEGO — Who am I? That’s a burning question for any adolescent. Even more so when you’re adopted and greater still when “Mommy” is obviously not your “real mom”.
This is the quandary of Jade McCullough –played by Dana Lau in the Moxie Theatre production of Jade Heart. When the world looks at Jade, they see Chinese. But Brenda, her blond, blue-eyed, single mom wants her daughter to be “American”.
Jade –like thousands of others- is a product of China’s infamous “one child” policy. Enacted in 1979, women must acquire a permit to have a baby. Forced abortions and sterilizations are not uncommon. In this society, boys are valued more highly than girls. So if the first child is a girl, they may try again for a boy. But a second daughter will be born and abandoned in secret. These “lost girls” are sent to orphanages in the hope that Westerners will be willing to adopt them.
Such policies seem despotic and draconian. But when the population of China reached 1 billion, limited resources were spread very thinly. Faced with the prospect of dying multitudes for want of water and medicine, it seemed “necessary”.
The story is non-linear. One moment, Jade is a rebellious teenager in a leather biker jacket. The next, she is a little girl in a silk Mandarin shirt, then a baby swathed in a blanket. Little by little, the puzzle pieces come together, though not all are found.
All of the characters in China, including Jade’s cryptic and elusive “China Mom,” wear masks based on Emperor Qin’s army of terra cotta soldiers. Hats off to Costume Designer Emily Smith whose masks add to their mystique and gives them a sense of “otherness”.
Julie Sachs and Dana Lau gave us a contentiously loving mother and daughter. The mother seems to have the best of intentions, but not the best of ideas. For example, she hires Mu Chang to tutor Jade in Chinese. Mu Chang wants very much for her “little monkey” to not just know Chinese but to be Chinese. But when Jade innocently talks about joining the Chinese army when she grows up, Mu Chang is dismissed for crossing the line. Behind the mother’s anger is the fear that her own daughter will become “foreign” to her. Was she wrong? Who can say who was right?
I found Dana Byrne’s portrayal of Mu Chang very touching as she expressed a very genuine motherly affection through her face and eyes she looked at the young Jade.
Losing this link to her heritage, Jade becomes “not Chinese enough”, at least not enough for her Chinese-American friend Mei. Joyce Lai was fun to watch as the bratty Mei as she spoke through her doll, criticizing every “non-Chinese” aspect of their tea party.
The most charming character was Albert Park’s Duan Chengshi, Jade’s Chinese boyfriend. Brenda fears that he’s wooing Jade to get a green card. Is he? Or, like Mu Chang, does he want is to help Jade recover what has been lost in her translation from Chinese to American?
You don’t have to be Chinese –or even adopted- to relate to Jade Heart. We wrestle with these questions in the Jewish community. What makes us Jewish? Is it our DNA or how we were raised? Are adopted children “really Jewish?” What about those who practice a different religion or no religion? Will the wrestling match ever reach a conclusion? If you have ever looked in the mirror and seen a mystery, then Jade Heart is the show for you.
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Eric George Tauber is a freelance writer specializing in the arts. He may be contacted via eric.tauber@sdjewishworld.com