In a world chock-full of expanded cinematic universes, reboots (gritty or otherwise), and spin-offs, an original premise is hard to find. Soft Power is nothing if not original—but it is also so much more.
With Tony-winning team of David Henry Hwang (Yellow Face, M. Butterfly) , who wrote the book and lyrics, and Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home, Kimberly Akimbo), providing music and additional lyrics, this surrealist musical was originally conceived of before the 2016 election “as The King and I in reverse,” according to the show’s program. Hillary Clinton’s loss, combined with Hwang’s near-death as the victim of a 2015 hate crime, would transform the show. Appropriately for a play that questions what it means to be Chinese, to be American, and to be Chinese American, the cast is overwhelmingly of Asian descent.
Hwang writes himself into the play, abbreviated in the program as DHH and played by Steven Eng. When DHH is stabbed on Election Day 2016, he hallucinates the musical he has been struggling to write: a tribute to Broadway’s golden age, complete with chorus lines, in which the Chinese theater producer who commissioned the piece, Xūe Xíng (Daniel May), falls in love with both America and Hillary Clinton (Grace Yoo).
Not since The Gonzales Cantata, an operatic, gender-bent performance of Alberto Gonzales’ congressional testimony, has there been such a combination of surrealism and American politics. Best of all, Soft Power is very, very funny.
Eng’s DHH and May’s Xíng form a formidable funny man-straight man duo, right down to May being the taller of the pair. Yoo’s portrayal of Clinton is a combination of the familiar—a convincing impersonation of the politician’s voice and smile—and the strange—such as when the candidate slides down a fire pole to dance a musical number (“I’m With Her”) in a star-spangled sequined leotard and pumps.
Notably, the candidate who would defeat Clinton is never named in the show. On oversize prop ballots, the candidates are listed as “Hillary Clinton” and “The Other Guy.” As such, this review will not name him either.
Despite being a farce, Soft Power has true feeling. The musical number “Fuxing Park,” in which DHH reflects on his father’s childhood in China and his own alienation from his ethnic roots, is beautiful. The romance between Xing and Clinton is convincing and moving in both its writing and acting. The last 10 minutes of Soft Power will leave audience members glowing with patriotism on their way out. The show program even features a selection of AAPI-affirming resources and voter registration resources.
Chika Shimizu’s set design evokes the stereotypical New York of movies—dirty, dangerous, and covered with stickers. (Which, honestly, is a description of the real New York.) The best feature of the set is a mirror against the back wall that forces the audience to look at themselves as they face America’s flaws. Helen Q. Huang’s costumes conjure up a full panoply of hysterically funny American stereotypes—redneck, MAGA rioter, athleisure wear woman, the much-maligned childless cat lady, a hippie in what one suspects are hand-me-downs from last season’s Hair.
Will Soft Power become a comedy classic? Will it be performed hundreds of years from now, worked and reworked in every new generation, the way The Importance of Being Earnest or The Taming of the Shrew have been? I doubt it, given how incredibly specific it is to our very bounded time, the lead-up to yet another election in which “Dear Leader” (as his acolytes refer to him within the show) is on the ballot.
Soft Power, then, is like a fresh bouquet of flowers—enjoy it heartily while you can. Just like democracy.
Soft Power, book and lyrics by David Henry Hwang, music and additional lyrics by Jeanine Tesori, and directed by Ethan Heard, runs through Sept. 15 at Signature Theatre. $40–$105.