Theater: Office Hour dramatically addresses campus violence and depression

Office Hour

Written by Julia Cho

Directed by Neel Keller

Starring Sue Jean Kim, Ki Hong Lee

New York Public Theater

December 3, 2017

 Office Hour was the second of two plays at NY Public Theater that I saw on a recent Sunday, each written by an American playwright associated with “ethnic” themes, and each feeling like it occurred far from Manhattan. Cho, the 42-year-old daughter of Korean immigrants, has created several plays for southern California theaters, and has a gift for creating memorable characters and for dialogue that communicates the conflicting emotions and pressures of the immigrant experience. On the east coast depictions of Asian issues are much less common than of black or Latino themes, so this play was very welcome. It is essentially a two-person play, ninety minutes long, but the “office hour” depicted is a tense session between a troubled, enigmatic young Korean student and his well-intentioned college writing professor, also Korean. Other teachers and fellow students are scared of Dennis. He is often silent, makes no eye contact, and writes violent, pornographic fiction for all assignments. His other teachers try and fail to talk with him, and the university cannot require him to seek psychological counseling. Some are afraid of another college shooting from such a troubled student, and try to expel him from their courses. (An aside: even though he clearly does not do his assignments as instructed, the professors seem to be reluctant to fail him, since he does in fact produce written work, no matter how disturbing it is.  Is this a comment on millennial participation trophies and declining academic standards?)

Gina, his newest teacher, has similar fears but wonders if some of the pressure and prejudice she experienced as an Asian student might be partly to blame for Dennis’ troubles. Sue Jean Kim is excellent in portraying Gina’s simultaneous maternalism, fear, and frustration with the sullen Dennis (an equally excellent Ki Hong Lee) as she gradually gets Dennis to speak a few words, then shout, then share some of his life story and overwhelming lack of self-worth at the core of his behavior. 

But the others’ fears are never made irrelevant—for example Dennis does have a gun, which he brings to school in his backpack (not so strange in our culture where Texas allowed students just such a right, and some school districts are considering arming their teachers). The one-hour office hours session covers a lot of ground in current educational controversy and adolescent psychology. What degree of personal intimacy or touching is appropriate for a teacher? What is the teacher’s responsibility to the individual student vs. to all students, who may be disturbed by a single student’s behavior or simply be intolerant of him/her? How much should a teacher extrapolate their own cultural history/baggage in dealing with a student? These are questions that all teachers, physicians, therapists must learn to address. An interesting technique used by the playwright to communicate Gina’s anxiety is a device borrowed from film, in which some of her worst fears (a shooting, a suicide) play out visibly to the audience as an alternative plot; then we time loop back to the real office interaction and go on. This device is surprisingly effective, enhanced by the natural, unmelodramatic acting of the two principal actors. It goes just a bit too far once, when we are surrounded by gunfire in order to evoke the worst of the teen shooting episodes (e.g. Columbine).

Based on my own as an educator, I thought the play presented a thoughtful, well written discussion of the conflicting roles of the teacher.  But it also educated the audience about some of the unique prejudice faced by Asian immigrants and their children, who often struggle to fit in while honoring their parents’ traditions. The director kept things moving, the playwright avoided preachiness, and the fine acting led to a thought-provoking and dramatic 90 minutes.

Note: This was the fourth play I have seen at the New York Public Theater, a now-venerable institution in the East Village. It was founded by Joe Papp in the 1950’s as a “forum for ideas and inclusion” and has some very distinctive culture. For example, the curtain time of each play is delayed a bit as empty seats are filled by playgoers who line up for free tickets, making many plays available to students and those with limited funds. The venues are intimate, allowing a very up-close interaction with the actors.  Prices are low by NY standards. The mission statement reads that theater is “an essential cultural force with the power to lead and frame dialogue on some of the most important issues of our day”. This means they take lots of risks on new playwrights, esp. those who depict populations underrepresented in most theaters. I think they are very successful in this. The plays are well played, produced, and directed, even if they are sometimes uneven in writing quality. The low cost means that the audience will take some risks on seeing plays by lesser known playwrights. Yes, that means the occasional clunker (see Tiny Beautiful Things), but also excellent shows like Office Hour and Oedipus el Rey.