Драматург Джоуванни Си представил в Стратфорде комедию «Дао мира» о привилегиях и власти

‘I got White Lotus-ed out’: Jovanni Sy on privilege, power and his new Stratford Festival play The Tao of the World pays homage to classic British Restoration comedies and modern-day Asian rom-coms When acclaimed playwright and theatre director Jovanni Sy went back to school a few years ago to pursue a Master of Fine Arts, he was told by the faculty to direct something funny. He wanted to take on William Congreve’s classic Restoration comedy The Way of the World, but the timing didn’t feel quite right. Restoration comedies are English plays written during the Restoration era (1660–1710), when King Charles II returned to the throne and theatres reopened, ushering in a new era of comedy known for its wit, sexual frankness and satire of upper-class society. “Restoration comedy is wonderful in that everyone is scheming and plotting,” Sy tells Q guest host Garvia Bailey in an interview. “It was really centered on that upper elite — and at the cost of the people working underneath them. And if you think back to 2021, and where we were, how just the year before we were all promising, ‘Oh, we'll never take frontline workers for granted again’ … I was seeing that we were already starting to take all these people who were essential to us for granted.” Around the same time, shows like The White Lotus were becoming hugely popular, but Sy felt the formula of wealthy, privileged people behaving badly had already become a little too familiar. “I got White Lotus-ed out in the sense that it's supposed to be a social satire where really privileged people act selfishly and literally get away with murder … and I'm thinking, ‘This isn't satire, this is documentary.’” Wanting to question why we’re elevating “lovable rogues” who treat people badly and are never held to account, Sy started thinking about how to turn that idea into a comedy that would punch up, not down. The time finally felt right to take another look at Congreve’s Restoration comedy — but with a twist. The result is The Tao of the World — an adaptation of The Way of the World set in Singapore, with a wink and a nod to modern Asian rom-coms like Crazy Rich Asians. He says Singapore was the perfect setting for his play because it’s a place where cultures and classes collide. “People come from all over Asia and all over the world to earn a living there because it's such a prosperous nation full of opportunity,” Sy says. “So it seemed like the perfect place to examine that intersection of race and class and privilege. No matter if I'm writing about Singapore in 2022, or with Salesmen in China, China in 1983 or whatever, I'm always writing about here and now.” For Sy, The Tao of the World tackles serious issues — but that doesn’t mean it can’t have some fun with them. “I really want to just question a bit where privilege and power sit and, you know, as I'm saying this, I'm realizing this is sounding terribly unfunny … but I swear to God, it'll make you laugh,” he tells Bailey. The Tao of the World opens tonight at the Stratford Festival, where it runs until Sept. 26. The full interview with Jovanni Sy is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts. Interview with Jovanni Sy produced by Ben Edwards.