Banana Boys: The Stage Show

Has anyone seen the production yet? Anyone planning to?

my gf bought tixs for the friday on the last week of production (in October); gf liked the book alot...i haven't read it

the only thing i know is that its about asian canadians at university...relationships, etc.

sounds interesting.

BTW IF ANYONE WANTS TO BUY A USED BANANA BOYS BOOK ONLY READ ONCE FOR (Very Good condition) $10 pls pm me. (Cost $20+ at chapters)

I prefer to drop it off / transact in the Scarborough/markham area.

Never read the book but I read the review in the paper (can't remember if it was the Metro or 24). I definitely plan to see this.

Friends of mine have already seen it and told me it was great. I'm definitely gonna see it soon.

Finally saw it this weekend... it was great. Really solid acting! Highly recommend seeing this play. Weekend matinees are $13.

Here's the review from last weeks Toronto Star.

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Sep. 21, 2004. 01:00 AM

Banana Boys a bit green


ROBERT CREW
ARTS WRITER


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Banana Boys

By Leon Aureus. Adapted from the novel by Terry Woo. Directed by Nina Aquino. Until Oct. 3 at Factory Studio Cafe, 125 Bathurst St. 416-504-9971.
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Banana Boys, now at the Factory Studio Café, is two hours and 30 minutes long.
I mention this fact because 90 minutes into the play (at intermission), I was wondering how many more times the play could go around in circles and what more we could possibly want to know about the five guys involved.

We'd learned that "banana" is a way of describing Canadian-born Chinese (or CBC) because it is yellow on the outside and white on the inside.

We had learned about the banana boys' rivalry with, and envy of FOBs — rich, Fresh-Off-the-Boat immigrants who drive around in Acuras and have far more success with girls. And the intertwined stories of the five banana boys was just about fleshed out, barring a few details.

The five, all of whom attend the University of Waterloo, all have identity crises but compensated in various ways. Rick (Richard Lee) had flung himself into the world of business and is Mr. Ambition. The play opens with his death.

Sheldon (Dale Yim) is a lovelorn engineer who is so "nice" and dull that people forget him as soon as he leaves the room. Luke (Insurp Choi) is a flaky DJ who loves the club scene. The angry and violent Dave (David Yee) hates women and Mike (Derek Kwan) is studying to be a doctor but really wants to be a writer.

Post-intermission was more of the same. The play jerks along via a series of flashbacks and flash-forwards, with Rick sometimes around as a ghostly presence.

The style also swings wildly through a number of different genres. There are several comedy sketches, spoofing TV wrestling and martial arts among other things. There is a crazy psychiatry professor, and a class on how to speak FOB.

Elsewhere, however, scenes of everyday reality jostle up against magical realism. By the end of the play you are not quite sure where you are, except that you've probably been there before.

There are several upsides to this production, however. The acting is generally solid and occasionally more than that, with Lee and Kwan both willing to explore their characters and find something extra. And while Choi's technique is somewhat raw, there are moments when you can't take your eyes off him.

Putting aside the inconsistencies of style, Nina Aquino's direction is both purposeful and imaginative. The music and sound design of Romeo Candido is a huge plus, Camellia Koo's set and costumes and Michelle Ramsay's lights rather less so.

Banana Boys is the first full-scale production of a company called fu-Gen, formed to produce the work of the next generation of Asian-Canadian artists. It's a promising debut. No skids on banana skins, even if the banana itself is over-ripe.

the reviews have been lukewarm, at best
mostly criticizing the length
however, a good start to full length asian productions in toront
i loved the 'mis-oriented' production at factory theatre last year

Great play...and yes it's way too long...especially sitting on those crappy chairs...2.5hrs long.

They could have cut a whole bunch of stuff.

Also...the play is very differnent from the book (that's what my gf said)


(the author of the book was there also_it was a friday)