Peerless Review

Will Yun

Review: Peerless by Jiehae Park

Directed by Brian Ko

‘Peerless,’ by Jiehae Park was brought to life in a simple environment by incredible actors from Phillips Academy. The set design was basic: a black box theatre, a few boxes, color filtered lights, music and sound effects and a projector. However, it was just enough to really use the characters to their full advantage. The plot is a mix of racism, manipulation, greed, lust, and cost. It starts off with L and M, acted by Nicole Jo and Shannon Liu respectfully. I am not familiar with Nicole and Shannon’s acting, but their delivery of the complicated back and forth dialogue was admirable to say the least and demands me to see their next performance. L and M are sisters and the stars of the play, and they begin talking about their accolades for The College. The sisters soon go into the résumé of fellow classmate, D. Their conversation consists on how his 1/16^th Cherokee background and mentally disabled brother are the only reasons he got into the College. The conversation is clever spoof by Jiehae Park on how current high schools talk about the admissions process of college. The dirty profit, played by Carly Pearlson, a known comedian in the comedy troop Sketchy, perfectly recites all of the information that M had on her application and makes racial claims about M’s Asian heritage, proving her micro-aggressive sagacity.

The scene suddenly changes to the school dance, introduced to the audience by an outstanding dance solo by Layomi, who plays M’s boyfriend. Layomi is a well renowned dancer at Andover, so M’s boyfriend was perfectly casted by the director. After Layomi leaves the stage, M and L are trying to get closer to D in order to learn his weaknesses. After M starts dancing with him, she learns about D’s suicide attempt the previous year. D reveals how while swallowing a bottle of pills, an old chief came to him in his dreams and told him that he needed to survive the Native American bloodlines. I interpreted the offensive chief performance as symbolism of how Americans only have a vague understanding of their ancestors and care more about their race than the people themselves. Consequently, D now lives with “no fear,” because the spirit of the chief is the protector of his soul. M slowly starts to empathize with D and truly likes him. M proves this when she stops L from exploiting his nut allergy and trying to kill him. However, after more manipulation by her sister L, M agrees to go to D’s basement, where they plan to kill D.

A powerful moment in the basement occurs when M and L face their backs towards D and swap places multiple times, trying to out his inner racism. The idea of confusing D by the Asian sisters, could signify their longing for a unique identity, and identity that includes their Asian heritage but also their personalities. Finally, after a while, the twin sisters strike. M gives D a nut filled cookie, and almost immediately he starts to feel his windpipe closing. He reaches for his EpiPen, which he always keeps around his neck, but the EpiPen is not there because M took it. D begs M to save him but she refuses, saying “you have to save yourself.” D dies in the basement, only feet away from his brother, officially surrendering his spot at The College.

In the next scene, M and L are rehearsing their cover up. M is still getting over how she murdered her friend but L has already mastered her alibi. The play suddenly turns even more dark when L creates a tale that D tried to rape her, and then committed suicide because of his guilt. I personally felt that the cover up threw around rape and suicide way too lightly. I am not sure what Jiehae Park intended by doing this, maybe it could be trying to start a conversation about how people in the real world joke about suicide and rape, but it felt inappropriate during the play. In the following days, M’s remorseful conscience has taken over her mind. D, dressed in the stereotypical chief outfit, enters her nightmares. D starts making racists statements about Asians and M says “stop or I’ll” but quickly realizes the damage she has already done.

In a surprising turn of events, M’s boyfriend receives D’s spot at The College, so the sisters start to plot his death as well. M confronts her sister about killing M’s boyfriend, instigating a physical altercation between the sisters. The dirty prophet arrives and tells M not to trust her conniving sister. When M challenges L again, L acts as though M killed D and M’s boyfriend, even threatening to tell people that M is a murderer. Surprisingly, M reveals how she already called the police station, posing as L, and confessed to the crimes.

In a Shakespearean ending, M gets in to the College, receiving her boyfriend’s spot. D’s disabled brother rightfully accuses M of killing his brother and uses his gas tank to blow up both M and himself for justice. L poses as M, and attends The College, where she reminisces on her sister’s life, and how much The College really costs.

I thought that the play was worth attending. I always find it interesting to see a contemporary take on race, ethnicity, disability, gender, and their place in our daily lives. Furthermore, using the college admissions process to make a modern Macbeth is at a new echelon of creativity that deserves the appraisal of even the most critical. The play only becomes better once I factor in the incredibly believable performances by the actors. ‘Peerless’ shows the importance of a broadened perspective in the increasingly introspective world of the college admissions process.