David Hsieh (far left), with members of the
multigenerational cast of "The Joy Luck Club"

Photo by George Liu for the Northwest Asian Weekly

By Jennifer Ching
For the Northwest Asian Weekly

For almost two years, director David Hsieh waited for the green light. Finally, six months ago, he learned he could proceed with his adaptation of Amy Tan's novel The Joy Luck Club for the Repertory Actors Theatre (ReAct).

Once he received permission, Hsieh worked on the script for more than 40 hours a week for three weeks and reread the book at least three times. At one point, he typed the entire book into his computer.

"I've been eating, breathing and dreaming about 'The Joy Luck Club,'" said Hsieh, a bookseller by day.

Hsieh, who is ReAct's founding artistic director, began casting in September. When rehearsals began the following month, the cast had only the first act of the script because act two was still being approved by Disney. Disney had purchased the story rights to make the 1993 movie version of The Joy Luck Club.

"This production has a huge cast of 30 actors, and had the logistics of scheduling and getting information disseminated when we usually have a cast of four to 10 actors," said Hsieh. "There were some unique challenges as well, working with some actors who work steadily and do a lot of work, and some actors for whom this was basically their first show."

Based on the bestselling 1994 novel, "The Joy Luck Club" is a tale of four immigrant Chinese mothers and their American-raised daughters. The mothers, all of whom have suffered untold tragedies, formed the Joy Luck Club in San Francisco. For almost 40 years, the four friends met to play mah jong and provide each other hope and support in their new homeland. When one member dies, her daughter, Jing-mei "June" Woo takes her place. In the process, June learns more about her mother.

"The part that speaks to me the most is the mother-daughter relationships," said Cindy Hoots, assistant director. "It doesn't matter which generation -- it could be the grandmother-mother relationship or the mother-daughter relationship -- but there are always obstacles, and I can relate."

Fans of Tan's books will appreciate how faithful Hsieh was to the original text.

Although the novel has already been made into a major motion picture and was adapted for the stage by New York's Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, Hsieh wanted to create his own stage production. He originally planned to put on the New York adaptation; however, he decided to create his own because he wanted to stage it differently and focus on different stories.

"The Joy Luck Club is huge, and there was the question of how to include the epic quality of the story in an intimate stage setting," said Hsieh. "We've tried to make our production very theatrical and we use a way of staging that's very Asian, like using the shadow work."

A challenge for Hsieh was in finding ways to not make the play a showcase of monologues.

"There's not much dialogue in the book, and plays are all dialogue," said Hsieh. "Anytime there was dialogue in the book, we included it in the play, and anytime the characters were talking about their stories, we tried to illustrate those stories."

Hsieh has directed many ReAct productions, including "The Importance of Being Earnest," "A Chorus Line," "Schoolhouse Rock Live!" and "Closer." Hsieh has also worked with the Northwest Asian American Theater, Music Theater Works, Rain Country Players and the University of Washington School of Drama.

Hsieh is considering adapting Tan's other novels, but he wanted to start with "The Joy Luck Club."

"It makes sense, if you're going to do adaptations of her work, to do them in the order they're written. People are more familiar with her older novels, and they're more familiar and easier to market," said Hsieh.

He said it's been interesting to hear people's preconceptions and expectations of this production. "Although the critics have been mixed, the audiences have been very receptive," said Hsieh. "I just tell the cast that it's not everyone's cup of chrysanthemum tea."

"The Joy Luck Club" is playing now through Feb. 9 (Thursdays through Sundays only) at the Repertory Actors Theatre, located at 104 17th Ave. S. in Seattle. Tickets range from $5 to $12. For tickets or more information, call 206-364-3283 ext. 1 or visit www.reacttheatre.org.

Jennifer Ching can be reached at scpnwan@nwlink.com.