11 Chinatown: The Vibrator Play

So, this post is unbelievably late, and for that I apologize.

"In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play" was actually extended at Woolly Mammoth, and closed a couple of weekends ago. So while reading this might not serve as a review of a show you might see, hopefully it will give you an idea of what Woolly has in store for its audiences, this season.

The Vibrator Play by Sarah Ruhl, kicks of a season intended to provide a "striptease of the subconscious". The essence of the season is to be "a focused and poignant exploration of our attitudes toward gender, age, race, and sexuality in a manner that's uniquely Woolly". I could try to sum up the piece, by Woolly's synopsis will do just fine:

"At the dawn of the electrical age, a new medical device is developed to pacify “hysterical” women, but it produces a shockingly different result. Pulitzer Prize-finalist Sarah Ruhl, creator of Dead Man’s Cell Phone and The Clean House, returns with a richly textured comedy about marriage, motherhood, and the charged energy between our bodies"

Now, Woolly is by far one of my favorite theatre companies. Part of what I love (and this is the Arts Management lens coming in) is their mission:

. . . to ignite an explosive engagement between theatre artists and the community by developing, producing, and promoting new plays that explore the edges of theatrical style and human experience, and by implementing new ways to use the artistry of theatre to serve the people of Greater Washington, DC.

LOVE IT!!

And I definitely believe that's what they're continuing to do, and have done with this show.

Walking in, the set is definitely interesting, with some heavy duty medical lights hanging from the ceiling, as if saying that the stage is this giant operating table, yet the bulk of the scenic design incorporating wood, from walls to furniture. And just to add the audience into the mix, a viewing gallery of sorts, serves as the second floor of the house on stage.

Although the title of the piece is "In the Next Room", the only thing separating the living room from the...'operating' room is a door and its frame, which provides for some very interesting scenes with action and dialogue occurring in both rooms simultaneously.

The highlight of the play for me is the dialogue between two women, the doctor's first patient and the doctor's wife, when describing the completely different experiences each had upon treatment of the device. The insightful yet hilarious writing is the essence of what really drives the first act.

The second act, is less entertaining, which isn't to say it is less artful. It leaves the lofty and light-hearted canopy of the subject matter addressed in the beginning, and becomes mired in the weeds, trying to make philosophical and logical sense of emotional and sexual well-being and health.

Some of the musings it left me with were as universal and general as people not wanting to be alone, but then as personal as what do individuals look to for companionship.

All-in-all, a worthwhile evening, and a great start to an exciting season.

11 Chinatown: Burma

Once again, we found ourselves in DC's cute LITTLE Chinatown (Fake Chinatown, Chinablock, whatever people call it these days). JR and some friends and I went for dinner while we waited for a play to start. We chose Burma because we never really have Burmese food that often, plus, it's the only Burmese restaurant in the District!

The restaurant was not as dive-y as I thought. It was actually quite pleasant. Art that looked "Burmese" embellished the yellow walls. It was interesting to look around.

I ordered the appetizers part of our meal. We began with the Gold Fingers, which are sticks of calabash squash lightly battered and deep fried. They reminded me of Pumpkin Tempura... but unfortunately not quite as good.

Our next appetizer was the Green Tea Leaf Salad. Interesting concept but the table didn't enjoy it that much. I was wishing to get a taste of the green tea in the salad but it had a strong salty/hearty taste (MSG?) that overwhelmed the rest of the potentially tasty ingredients.

One of our friends ordered the Burmese Mango Pork. I usually love stewed pork but this was just fine. It was savory and tangy but didn't have that "thing" that makes you love stewed pork dishes. Sorry Burmese Mango Pork, I just don't think that there was a spark...

Another friend ordered the Kokang Chicken. This dish was colorful: white chicken breasts, green cilantro, red tomatoes, and yellow ginger, all soaked in brown soy/sesame sauce. The colors however didn't not reflect much of the taste and I thought that the dish was a little bit bland :(

But to end on a delicious note, we did actually have a good dish! The winner for the night was the Chicken Sauteed Kebab. JR was the one who ordered this (how does he do this all the time?! Am I not the foodie part of this blog?). Anyway, this was our favorite out of all. Well marinated chicken with sauteed veggies... what's not to love?!


Burma was a pleasant dining experience, but not so much for the food. I don't know if I'll go back but if I do, I'll definitely try out other dishes on the menu. Oh, and did I mention that they serve Singha Beer? I'll also go back for that.

2 Asian: Chinatown Express

A lot of people in DC (DCers, DC Residents, and Tourists) seem to be quite disappointed by the "Chinatown" of the District but I've learned to come into terms with it. Even though I admit to calling it the "Fake Chinatown" sometimes, I really find the neighborhood pretty charming. I really can't imagine a DC without that cool Chinese Arch, or without walking pass the neon signs as I run into Gallery Place to see a movie at the Regal Theater, and without Red Velvet? I say keep "Fake Chinatown" because to me it's better than no Chinatown at all. Plus, who doesn't appreciate the Chinese characters on each establishment in the area?

One legitimate reason for disappointment however is that there are not a lot of great restaurants in Chinatown. Not only restaurants in general, but Chinese ones in particular. I found out about Chinatown Express when I was craving dumplings one day so I researched online and the verdict was that Chinatown Express had the best ones in town. I took my bike and went all the way to the restaurant to satisfy my dumplings craving. I got to the restaurant and was absolutely charmed by the open kitchen where the chef and his art were on display for all to see. In fact, this is the main charm of Chinatown Express. You always find at least a couple of people outside staring at the chef kneading noodles or the ducks hanging on the wall. It's a great way to lure people in, and it worked with me!

JR has never been to Chinatown Express so I thought that it would be a perfect place to grab a quick bite after the dance performance at Dance Place and the movie we planned on seeing at the E Street Cinema. Also, earlier that day, I was biking to the National Gallery and decided to pass through Chinatown when I ran into the Chinese New Year Festival! The excitement for having dinner in Chinatown was now building up.

Chinatown Express is usually crowded, but the 'hole in the wall' restaurant had more people this time and I'm guessing that it was the festival crowd. We were seated in the second floor, which I've never known existed but it was fun to walk through the crowd and get a glimpse of the busy kitchen inside - it went along with the charm that one looks for in a Chinatown. We sat down, got served a hot pot of tea, and were ready to order dinner. A lot of people come here to order the noodles, and I'm assuming that people think it's good because they see the chef, in person, preparing it from outside. As much as I would've liked to like the noodles, my three attempts with the bland dish was enough to give it another shot. Sorry Chinatown Express Noodles :(

The Dumplings though are great! and later, I discovered the the delicious Pork Buns, both of which we ordered tonight. I remember having more moist and juicy pork delights in all the times I went to Chinatown Express, but this time I noticed them to be a little bit dry and not that warm. I thought that the restaurant must've been overwhelmed by the festival crowd so I wont take it personal. I do recommend both dishes, especially, and most importantly, dipped in your choice of sauce (pickled garlic, pureed green onions [or ginger?], hot pepper, and soy sauce). These sauces are to die for, and I personally prefer the first two.

Since we got two small dishes I called for only one main dish. I went to the restaurant with a friend from Hong Kong once and she introduced me to one of the Casserole dishes, which was unforgettably delicious. Last time I got the Roasted Pork Casserole so we went for Chicken with Black Mushrooms this time around. It was less flavorful than the Roasted Pork but still had some food personality and substance. It's also good to branch out from the usual General Tso's Chicken, which by the way is not Chinese.

In addition to the fun setting and the relatively good food, the prices are very reasonable. We were done with our meal early enough to get a Moon Cake from the Chinese restaurant/bakery next door and catch a movie at E Street about the Vietnam War - 2 much Asian for one day? :)