New York Review: “I Love White Men” at Caveat NYC
Max Berry, Associate New York Critic
“I Love White Men” is a one-woman show written and performed by Sim Yan Ying (YY). It tells the story of how she moved from Singapore to New York City for college, the struggles that came with that, the expectations of life in New York, and, as the title suggests, her search for a white man to date. We are given this comedic tale through stories of her childhood, creative bingo games, and funny anecdote after funny anecdote. As a result, we get a thoroughly entertaining show about YY’s story and some personal insight on how race is sometimes viewed in intimate situations.
It would be so easy in a one-woman show like this one, to hold back in the stories that are told. The creator of the show has all the control, after all. But, fortunately for the audience of “I Love White Men” this is not what happened. YY told each moment with honesty, sharing many things that most people would shy away from sharing on stage. This creates a personal bond between YY and the audience that carries the show. We see her experiencing these moments live on stage, not acting as though she did, but really reacting to the real moments from her life and expressing actual feelings about sharing them with us, and as a result, we go through an experience too. “I Love White Men” feels like being told personal stories from a close friend.
YY has incredible stage presence. Funny, charming, and real she takes us through her time in New York through the lens of the white men she slept with. She navigates each story wonderfully and plays off of the audience with ease. The story is crafted in such a way that you are laughing and cringing so much one minute that you do not expect the rug to be pulled out from under you the next. Suddenly, the story sheds all of its comedic disguises and we are told a very real and very powerful story. YY handles all of these moments expertly.
“I Love White Men” is a personal story but it also spends a lot of time discussing stereotypes of Singaporeans through the lens of these men that YY encounters throughout her life. These moments are not free from humor but don’t hesitate to simply state what needs to be said when necessary. These moments cover a wide range of topics and address many different aspects of these stereotypes and it never feels like a departure from the story. Everything is woven so tightly that each section flows naturally into the next.
Despite just having one person on stage, “I Love White Men” didn’t rely on only traditional storytelling methods. The show featured projections that felt reminiscent of some educational programming from childhood. These projections often offered some visual aid or funny visual comedy on whatever story was being told. YY also invited any white man in the audience to read emails she received as a child and invited the audience to play “White Man Sex Bingo” in which audience members were given bingo cards the corresponded with the different men she had slept within the city. This addition also makes each show different so you might want to catch the show more than once to get every story on the bingo card.
“I Love White Men” was a thoroughly entertaining show in no small part due to the talented writing and performance of YY. It was a coming of age story that’s still coming, meaning that she didn’t try and provide us with answers for the questions asked in the play. She expresses that she’s not quite sure of the answers herself and this only adds to the play’s honesty. The impact is felt more because we know there isn’t any attempt to manufacture answers. “I Love White Men” is definitely worth checking out for anyone looking for a fun and honest night of theatre.
“I LOVE WHITE MEN” was written and performed by Sim Yan Ying “YY”, developed with and directed by Renee Yeong, developed with and dramaturgy by Nicholas Chan.
With dramaturgy by Nicholas Chan.
It ran January 24th-26th at Caveat NYC (21 A Clinton St New York, NY 10002).
Photo: Featured: Sim Yan Ying. Photo by Joseph O'Malley