Rice by Michele Lee is touring as part of The Orange Tree Theatre’s commitment to international new writing.
Angela Yeoh as Yvette and Anya Jaya-Murphy as Nisha in Rice | Photo © Steve Tanner
Written by Asian – Australian Lee, this is a sharp and at times highly effective look at women in business and the power battles to be heard above the male voices in their lives.
There is humour through the multi role playing and the two performers work well together to reflect both the similarities and differences in their lives.
Nisha (Anya Jaya-Murphy) is the power suited yet highly anxious Indian executive of an Australian Farming company. Desperate to impress, the Australian born Indian is close to her relatives and cares for her ailing West Bengali Grandmother.
She physically strides and prowls around the clinically white space fighting to be seen and successful. She is brutal and determined.
Yvette (Angela Yeoh) is the almost cowering cleaner whose various businesses, including importing fake fashion, fail alongside her wayward daughter and their tumbling relationship. Yevette hides in corners, almost seeking permission to be part of the action.
Both Yeoh and Jaya-Murphy create many characters, from teenage tearaway through to patronising businesswomen and toxic men. Yeoh has the stronger men, allowing a flexing of physical space and escapism from the restrictive corners and hunched appearance as the weary cleaner. The more detailed the characters, the more successful they become.
Their lives meet at certain points and there is a sense of mutual support as the play develops. The comedy moments, including Yvette, the eastern European boss of Yeoh work well. Her disrespect of authority is well written.
The script feels bumpy but the cast works hard to keep it on track. Directed by Matthew Xia, the stark set designed by Hyemi Shin captures the bleak isolation of their worlds whilst Bethany Gupwell’s lighting punctuates the action effectively.
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Reviewer: Petra Schofield
Rice is showing at the Ustinov Studio in Bath until Saturday 26th March 2022.
