White Pearl at Studio Theatre

White Pearl

Studio Theatre
1501 14th St. NW Washington

Clearday is a cosmetics company on the rise: Based in Singapore, launching a global skincare line, and bringing a start-up mentality to the big leagues. But a draft ad for their latest skin whitening cream surfaces on YouTube, gathering views and outrage. As morning nears in the U.S. market-19,643 views. 467,327. 654,398.-Clearday's all-female team hustles to contain the damage before Buzzfeed weighs in. Someone's definitely getting fired. A comedy from rising Thai-Australian writer Anchuli Felicia King about toxic corporate culture, selling whiteness, and shame as both a cultural commodity and canny marketing strategy.

Thru - Dec 8, 2019

Tuesdays: 8:00pm

Wednesdays: 8:00pm

Thursdays: 8:00pm

Fridays: 8:00pm

Saturdays: 2:00pm & 8:00pm

Sundays: 2:00pm & 7:00pm

Price: $60-$90

Box Office: 202-332-3300

www.studiotheatre.org/plays/play-detail/2019-2020-white-pearl

Nearby Restaurants

Find Discounted Parking near Studio Theatre for White Pearl

White Pearl Reviews

Average Rating based on 6 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Washington Post - Somewhat Recommended

"...In the grand tradition of sending up a shady business onstage comes "White Pearl," Anchuli Felicia King's often funny but ultimately overwrought comedy of an Asian economic miracle gone off the rails."

Read Full Review

- Peter Marks

DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended

"...If you attend Studio Theatre's current production of the brilliantly acerbic White Pearl and feel in the first ten minutes that you're not sure you know what's happening, don't worry. Playwright Anchuli Felicia King doesn't want you to understand everything right away. She immediately gives you a sense of the madness of her world, but only slowly offers an explanation of the chaos."

Read Full Review

- Barbara Mackay

Talkin Broadway - Recommended

"...Chiang has formed her cast, which also includes Zachary Fall as a seedy French activist, into a strong ensemble while also allowing each performer to create a distinct identity. Parasuraman's initial unflappability and smugness, Huey's blistering anger (and American attitude), Zhu's hidden sadness, Mishina's eagerness to be accepted, Kang's resentment, and Doo's reflection of Priya's glory are all riveting to watch, individually and as they interact."

Read Full Review

- Susan Berlin

MD Theatre Guide - Recommended

"...The roughest part of King's script is at its very end - it is no spoiler to say that it does not really have one. With the various conflicts resolved, at least for the day, King does not come to a satisfying denouement. It's not a major flaw, and it does nothing to undermine director Desdemona Chiang's splendid production, but perhaps she will one day revisit and revise the last few pages."

Read Full Review

- Peter Orvetti

DCTheatreScene - Recommended

"...Studio Theatre, though, has still managed its own utopia of sorts with the incredible cast it has assembled for White Pearl. Each actress is more formidable than the next: Parasuraman has a biting sharpness as Singh, and she plays nicely off Doo's sarcastic, quick-witted Lee (King has a good ear for the slang-peppered dialogue of contemporary Singapore). Diana Huey's Built Suttikul is saddled with White Pearl's less-interesting sideplot (her personal connection to the man responsible for leaking the video), but she proves herself a scene-stealer regardless."

Read Full Review

- Missy Frederick

BroadwayWorld - Recommended

"...In many ways, King's set-up resembles that of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross, a high pressure business environment where someone's head will roll before the curtain comes down. What's both different and interesting though is King has chosen to have the characters come from different Asian countries. The result is a simmering racial tension, which could have been used to examine the role stereotypes play in business. Alas, that never really happens to our satisfaction. The first of many missed opportunities in White Pearl."

Read Full Review

- Benjamin Tomchik

White Pearl Photo Gallery

White Pearl at Studio Theatre

White Pearl

White Pearl Reviews

Washington Post - Somewhat Recommended

DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended

Talkin Broadway - Recommended

MD Theatre Guide - Recommended

DCTheatreScene - Recommended

BroadwayWorld - Recommended

White Pearl Photo Gallery

Explore More

Other Sites