EPTSetting:
Somewhere deep in China, late 1990s. It was the time when ernai were just getting popular and you could still get a decent dinner and a clean hotel room for 20 USD a night. Back when lots of Chinese people still called themselves ridiculous English names that were plainly made up.
Characters--
Major Characters:
ZHANG SHENGHAN (THE GOOD): A youngish, late 20s public relations bureaucrat with a gifted mouth. Hates smoking; loves playing ma jiang (even though he sucks at it--but that's the reason he got the job, because he made all the other provincial officials back home win whenever he played them); stutters around pretty girls. Though he tries to act reserved and cool, he secretly yearns for someone to make his heart complete. Feels that life is empty; is naturally cynical; is also the narrator of the play. Imagine Bill Clinton or Nick Naylor (http://youtube.com/watch?v=4HC3xwlfcFM&feature=related). Wears a necklace, a gift from an earlier girlfriend.
Backstory (will be explained in play):
He grew up in a poor province in China and studied his ass off in order to get to a top college overseas to study journalism. He graduated at the top of his class and seemed destined for an excellent graduate school; however, when he recieved news that his father has died, he returned home to find out that his mother has Alzheimer's, and in reality, for the past two years he's been talking to his aunt over the phone (everything has been a sham concocted by his father to keep him focused on his studies). Since he is the only living relative of the family in his generation (his aunt is childless), he returns home to care for his mother and abandons hope of becoming a journalist overseas. Instead, he applies for a job managing media relations with the local government because it pays well and gives him time to take care of his mother; despite his best efforts, his mother wanders out of the house and ends up getting hit by a car two months after he moves back home. The settlement from the accident made him a relatively wealthy man (by inland China standards) but also left him deeply fatalistic, believing that his own actions cannot influence the course of the world. It's now been three years since that accident.
(Note: Zhang Shenghan is assumed to be pretty cute (not quite Edison Chen, but close.) We can change that if casting requires it.)
WANG BAOSEN (THE BAD): A moneygrubbing industrialist and former demolitions expert in the army; that job cost him his left arm. He is Zhang Shenghan's "real boss". On the surface, he appears calm, benevolent; deep down inside, he's cold-hearted, controlling; has an explosive temper. Chain-smokes Hongtashan filters even though his day job is owner/manager of a fireworks factory. Always wins at ma jiang; on a first-name basis with all the KTV hostesses in the province. He is dominated by a fear of failure and likes to bully his way out of any situation.
Backstory (will be explained in play):
On the outside, he's a respected war hero who lost his left arm to a Vietnamese grenade; in truth, he's a coward who accidentally tripped his own landmine which blew off his left arm and killed his assistant, then got a job at the munitions plant he now owns by threatening to claim that it was the faulty mine which triggered the accident.
BENJAMIN DANIELS, a.k.a. BEN DAN (THE UGLY): An American journalist who studied in Beijing as an exchange student 12 years ago; feels that allows him to understand the country. He has risen to fame in the United States writing highly critical articles about China which seem to repeatedly say that "China is a house of cards, soon to collapse, which will overtake the United States and become the an evil world superpower." What he lacks in intelligence, he makes up for with passion and energy. Overall, though, his intentions are "good" in the sense that he'll say what he believes to be right... he's just wrong most of the time. Imagine a younger version of Jack Cafferty.
GRACE XIAO a.k.a. XIAO E (sounds like the chinese word for swan) LAN (LA FEMME): Ben Daniels's assistant. The damsel in distress; tall, tanned, good-looking with a perenially bright smile. Relatively quiet and likes to listen--while she appears naive and innocent at first glance, on the inside she is actually quite insightful and resolute. She is fundamentally benevolent and believes in free will, in contrast to Shenghan's fatalistic personality. Wears the other half of Shenghan's necklace.
Backstory (will be explained in play):
She grew up in sunny sunny San Diego and met Shenghan as a college student. They dated for a while until he suddenly disappeared from college; she remembers him as a relatively easygoing, laid back but extremely intelligently guy. First time back in China since she left as a ten year old. She hasn't dated any other guys since Shenghan--she claims it's because she's busy, but in reality it's because she still loves him.
ANGRY FARMER WOMAN (THE PSYCHO VIGILANTE... or maybe just THE PSYCHO): Widowed mother. Lost husband to a coal mine. Lost only child to fireworks factory. A I'm-mad-as-hell-and-I'm-not-taking-it-anymore person. She's out for revenge and she won't stop until she gets it.
Minor Characters:
(Insert as many as necessary; I think these descriptions should be as loose as possible to make our casting requirements easier)
Three goons:
Modeled after Mr. Blonde, Mr. Pink, and Mr. White from the movie Reservoir Dogs. This way the audience can actually tell some of the minor characters apart. Because they're minor characters, they are EXAGGERATED CARICATURES of normal people.
HENCHMAN # 1 should be like Mr. Blonde: He is a muscular, violent, crew-cut guy with the facial features of a true psychopath. He rarely talks and always administers the physical violence. For an example of him in the movie Reservoir Dogs, see this clip:
Of course, the general gist is that this guy is brutal and very mean. The enforcer of the goon squad.
HENCHMAN # 2 should be like Mr. Pink: He is a whiner. Thin, short, small, complainer, annoying.
HENCHMAN # 3 should be like Mr. White: Older, more mature, the leader of the group.
Both Mr. White and Mr. Pink are displayed in this scene:
