The One

Like a Yum Cha with every possible flavour on offer, this comedy is a feast which left the audience with their bellies full of laughs.

Walking into the brilliant set designed by Nick Fry, we were immediately transported into a Chinese restaurant that felt so authentic you almost taste the prawn cracker.

Siblings Mel (Angie Diaz) and Eric (Shan-Ree Tan) are half Anglo, half Malay Australians. The pair were regional Asian ballroom champions during their childhoods, which they re-enact cheesily in the first of many dream sequences that drench the narrative like a leaky soy sauce bottle.

The pair have a banquet load of issues to deal with. Mel is struggling with her relationship with her partner, the hapless Cal (Damien Strouthos) who she met on a TV dating program.  Eric is struggling to come out and leave his shell as a librarian.

Beaming in from the old country is their mother Helen (Gabrielle Chan), who torments both of them with hysterical lightning bolts.

Adding to the chaos is the pet poodle which we don’t see apart from a doggy doo doo bag that is minded by a lucky member of the audience.

The writer Vanessa Bates and Director Darren Yap have whipped a stir fry that mixes their great fondness of the immigrant experience, combining the sweetness of culture and sourness of the underlying racism they must confront in the Australian community. 

In the middle the siblings “half Asian” and “half blank” swing from seriously addressing some issues then a bell chimes and they swing back into a dream sequence with song and dance.

The table is set for the second act when the matron returns.

Coming into her own was the waitress Jess (Aileen Huynh), who punctuates the chaos with comedic moments that steel scenes reminiscent of Manwell in Fawlty Towers.

The action turns high farce and high voltage whipped together with some impressive choreography.

This home cooked comedy should be taken away by artistic directors nationwide and served up all over Australia.

David Spicer

Photographer: Prudence Upton