`Exit The Dragon': Enter The Stereotypes

Theater review "Exit the Dragon," by Eric Michael Zee. Directed by Zee and Jeff Liu. Northwest Asian American Theatre, at Theatre Off Jackson, 409 Seventh Ave. S. Thursdays-Sundays through Nov. 2. 206-340-1445.

The kung-fu expert. The inscrutably wise Confucian. The nerdy engineer.

"Exit the Dragon" throws such pop-culture stereotypes of Asian men at the audience to show how those images shape the way Americans see Asians and how they affect Asian-American men themselves.

These are worthy goals. But unfortunately, the show is mainly a presentation of stereotypes and issues; it doesn't add up to an involving play.

The premise has three Asian-American male actors auditioning for a role. There's Dave Woo (played by Eric Michael Zee), who seems to despise his own Asian heritage, and rather pointedly refers to Asians as "Orientals." Then there's Jun-Li Chow (played by Kipp Shiotani), an anti-white, oops, make that "pro-Asian" guy who leans toward Asian-American isolationism; and Vien Vu (played by Tuan Tran), as a recent refugee from Vietnam and the voice of pragmatism.

We learn a little about how each of them got to hold the positions and identities that they do. But they're not really fully fleshed characters; they're walking "types": Dave's fleeing from his heritage, Jun-Li's stridently embracing it, but they're both full of talk. It's up to Vien to shake them into seeing that they both need to stop talking and take action. It's all a bit too didactic, the resolution too pat.

Still, the zig-zag journey through various stereotypes - nerds, perfect students, martial-arts experts - is presented with brisk humor. And it often had the opening-night audience laughing along in recognition (one character recalls being embarrassed as a child because friends who came to his house had to take their shoes off; a nightclub where the Asian guys dance hip-hop).

Staging is minimal - mainly just three stools on stage. The acting is bumpy, with Zee and Tran a bit stiff at first (although they relaxed by the end). The actor who comes closest to forming a full character is Shiotani, whose Jun-Li is loose, fresh, funny. (The current cast plays through Sunday and then Oct. 30 to Nov. 2. Jimmy Taenaka, Pete Shinkoda and Eddie Mui take over the roles Oct. 9-26.)

"Exit the Dragon" is fine as an introduction to the issues surrounding Asian-American male identity. But as a theater piece it's lacking.