Review: ‘Far Country’ at Berkeley Rep captures allure and heartbreak of Angel Island (Mercury News)
Tess Lina and Tommy Bo perform in Lloyd Suh’s powerful immigration-themed play “The far Country” at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Kevin Berne/Berkeley Repertory Theatre
March 18, 2024
Karen D’Souza
When Han Sang Gee lands at Angel Island in 1909 in Lloyd Suh’s haunting “The Far Country,” he knows he will have to sacrifice much of who he is as an immigrant. But he’s unprepared for just how identity must be lost, how much bravery must be mustered to forge a new life in a foreign land, then and now.
Erika Chong Shuch captures the fluidity of identity in her mesmerizing movement choreography as this Pulitzer Prize-finalist play pivots through generations and cultures as the trade between China and the United States, in people and products, ebbs and flows over time, a cultural tug-of-war that reaches from the Chinese Exclusion Act to the TikTok controversy.
In its West Coast premiere at Berkeley Rep, Jennifer Chang’s lyrical production distills both the terror and the mystery of the Angel Island detention center, framed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh’s ethereal projections, standing sentinel at the gateway to the Bay Area for decades.