The Far Country NYC Reviews and Tickets
About the Show
Production Covid-19 Safety ProtocolsMember Reviews (177)
See it if you enjoy dramas focusing on neglected populations, America's shameful history of immigration & real experiences of Chinese immigrants
Don't see it if you don't like depictions of America's poor treatment of immigrations, deliberately frustrating scenes of growing despair and sacrifice
See it if You love historical dramas — especially those about immigrants and/or Asian culture.
Don't see it if You dislike plays that take a deep look at the negative impacts of certain parts of American history.
See it if you’re interested in American and Chinese history or stories about lost identity and sacrifice.
Don't see it if you’re looking for a pick-me-up. This is a sad story, and at times intense.
See it if You are interested in history & how inhumanely certain people were treated. Some rise to the occasion while others crumble. Great first act
Don't see it if You're interested in our historical, miserable system of immigration in the early 20th Century for people from China - deflating would be a Read more
See it if You appreciate serious attempts at telling an interesting story.
Don't see it if You want to see a well done story that really resonates.
See it if interested in the plight of Chinese immigrants in the early 1900's, well told & staged. This is a part of history not often encountered.
Don't see it if you don't want to be reminded of our shameful past when it comes to immigration. Some scenes need trimming. Abrupt ending disappointing. Read more
See it if You are willing to see a show about immigrants enslaving each other. Use your mind to see the depth of human inhumanity
Don't see it if Writing that hides it's subject seems like too much effort. If not willing to face intraracial cruelty. Read more
See it if Shannon Tyo's wonderful! Act 1's historical background of Chinese "paper sons" trying to immigrate to US. Act 2's more about family/legacy.
Don't see it if Historical plays (slow parts), would've liked more story/character development, would've liked more scenes with the badass women characters. Read more
Critic Reviews (12)
“ 'The Far Country' meditates on ethnicity and identity...There is so much more history to recover. More love. More promise. More pain."
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"In just over two hours, Suh succinctly and humorously covers 21 years, two continents, two interrogations and two obscenely expensive trans-Pacific crossings from Taishan to San Francisco."
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"One of Suh’s strengths is his ability to mix realism and poetic elements. He uses that here as he shines a light on a dark slice of American history and builds a play around it."
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"Suh’s strengths is his ability to mix realism and poetic elements. He uses that here as he shines a light on a dark slice of American history and builds a play around it."
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"As a history lesson, 'The Far Country' is enlightening, sobering, even at times enraging. As drama, Suh's play is on shakier ground."
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This is Suh's second pass (at least) at dealing with the Chinese Exclusion Act…It was an unjust law that resonates discomfortingly in today's America, and all praise to the playwright for bringing it forward. But if Suh could find a strongly dramatic matrix to further illuminate this dark chapter of our history, his arguments might pack a true knockout punch. In The Far Country, they land, but sometimes too glancingly.
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"If you want to get something out of the experience, they seem to be telling us, you'd better be paying careful attention. Our 'intimate epic' offers up a significant piece of history that you probably know next to nothing about. Listen, learn, and digest it all later."
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If "The Far Country" has a shortcoming, it's that the second half feels like a sequel to what came before rather than a continuation of the same play, despite the sensitive efforts of director Eric Ting to emotionally stitch everything together. In part, that's because characters disappear entirely after Suh's story resumes, though the more salient cause is the relatively late introduction of Yuen (Shannon Tyo), a desperate, but still strong-willed, young woman to whom Gyet proposes marriage after returning to China with his U.S. citizenship, essentially replicating Gee's offer to him with an even more intimate bond.
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