Francesca Fernandez McKenzie (Sophea) and Jennifer Lim (Him) in Steppenwolf’s “Bald Sisters”/Photo: Michael Brosilow
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I probably shouldn’t say this… But I’m going to say it: What most Anglo-U.S. citizens imagine as “American” is about as accurate as a blindfolded dart player and as bright as a burned-out lightbulb!
That’s my take after experiencing the premiere of “Bald Sisters,” written by Vichet Chum and directed by Jesca Prudencio at the Ensemble Theater at Steppenwolf. In a program note, Chum hopes that the work will draw attention to the “vital, thriving Cambodian community in Chicago.”
Did you know that Chicago has a “thriving Cambodian community?” I sure didn’t. But I do now, and this story is perhaps the most American one I’ve ever heard.
Set in a mundane suburban middle-class home in Texas, the focus is around two sisters, Him (Jennifer Lim) and Sophea (Francesca Fernandez McKenzie), who are, as the title suggests, both bald, but for very different reasons. Him is struggling with chemotherapy following cancer surgery, and Sophea is struggling with an existential crisis, shaving her head in solidarity with Buddhist asceticism. After spending most of their adult years apart, they are reunited following the death of their Ma (Wai Ching Ho).
Wai Ching Ho (Ma) and Francesca Fernandez McKenzie (Sophea) in Steppenwolf’s “Bald Sisters”/Photo: Michael Brosilow
Ma is hardheaded, outspoken and crass. She peppers flashback scenes with her signature catchphrase, “I probably shouldn’t say this… But…” There’s hardly an appearance where she doesn’t accuse one of her daughters of “being a bitch.” But she gets away with it because, in a moment of meta-awareness, according to Ma, she is a small, Asian woman, and people think it’s cute.
Ma’s carefree attitude is the result of her experience surviving the fall of the Khmer Rouge, the brutal and oppressive Communist government that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. Ma, pregnant with Sophea and caring for Him, walked over fields covered in dead bodies to escape the brutal regime and flee to the United States. The experience left her with superlative strength and wisdom.
For Him, it was the opposite. Tormented by images of the killing fields, Him distances herself from the memories by conforming to an archetypal American lifestyle by converting to Christianity and marrying a church pastor, Nate (Coburn Goss).
Sophea, on the other hand, lacks any sense of national identity. Trapped between two worlds, her snotty behavior is challenged by a relationship with her sister’s landscaper, Seth (Nima Rakhshanifar), whose experience as a Syrian refugee gives her some perspective.
The bickering between the sisters can become intensely melancholy. The heat that rises within you as you watch is cooled by intermittent, well-paced flashbacks featuring Ma, whose brusqueness provides comic relief. The up and down of emotions is like a rollercoaster in the best possible way—anticipatory then exhilarating.
Chum’s script, expertly helmed by Prudencio, is the veritable American story: A family seeking and finding a better life while struggling with the concepts of materialism, familial responsibility, assimilation, religion and fidelity toward each other.
Here’s one thing that you needn’t feel bashful about saying: This show makes you proud to be an American, while at the same time changing your view of what it means to be one. To put it another way, “Bald Sisters” is as American as buh-bah sok-moin, and that’s a good thing!
“Bald Sisters” is at the new in-the-round Ensemble Theater at Steppenwolf, 1650 North Halsted, $20-$86, Steppenwolf.org. Through January 21.
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