Review: Hillary and Hilarity: Soft Power Delivers Political Satire via Tuneful Fantasy

“Soft power,” a term coined by political scientist Joseph Nye in the late 1980s, refers to the ability of a country to influence others through attraction and persuasion, rather than coercion or force. It’s a fitting title for the imaginative political satire musical by Tony Award winners David Henry Hwang (Yellow Face, M. Butterfly) and Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home, Kimberly Akimbo), playing at Washington, DC’s Signature Theatre through September 15.

Soft Power’s story takes place shortly after the 2016 presidential election. A Chinese-American playwright is mugged in the street, and while passed out, he hallucinates his own version of a Golden Age musical comedy about a Chinese theater producer and Hillary Clinton falling in love.

Hwang loosely based the incident on his own experience, having been stabbed in a hate crime less than a decade ago. Steven Eng brings that horrific event to life as the aptly named DHH, the charismatic writer whose world spirals in a fantasia that echoes with aspects of his Chinese heritage and his views on the political process.

It’s absurd at times — at one point, a life-size Elmo dances among an angry mob; at another, a political rally takes place at McDonald’s — but it works. Hwang and Tesori have fashioned a rare farce with heart while examining the viability of American democracy. Director Ethan Heard and choreographer Billy Bustamante go full throttle with some of the circus-like shenanigans, but they find ways to calm it down to ensure a real message comes through.

The musical was written before the 2016 election, so the script has been reworked through the years, and a major difference from when it premiered at the Center Theater Group in Los Angeles six years ago is Hillary Clinton is now played by an Asian American actor, the magnificent Grace Yoo.

Yoo is hilarious as the Democratic nominee who captures Clinton’s flare and determination to lead, while delivering nonsensical musings about power and the country. Leading the charge on the songs, “I’m With Her” and “Song of the Campaign Trail,” Yoo gets belly-laughs with her outrageousness.

Her love interest, Xūe Xíng, a King and I-obsessed producer played by Daniel May, is a blend of centuries-old traditional Chinese culture with a forward-thinking modern identity. May plays the character stiffly at first, but gradually Xūe Xíng’s excitement for a new Chinese-themed play emerges, and you see how his character starts to embrace the American spirit. May and Yoo create delightful chemistry as unlikely lovebirds.

Without saying his name, there are numerous references to Donald Trump and “his” America, and the show lands some big punches, especially with the fantastic Christopher Mueller as a gun-loving blowhard vice president. The ensemble boasts standout moments from Jonny Lee Jr. as Bobby Bob, Ashley D. Nguyen as Xūe Xíng’s demur daughter, and Andrew Cristi in several hilarious roles. There are touching moments as well, most notably when Eng delivers the powerful “Fuxing Park,” with DHH paying tribute to his father’s upbringing and how it impacted his life moving to America.

Set designer Chika Shimizu creates a gloomy New York of old. She utilizes a large mirror backstage to let the audience see themselves in the show’s dreamlike world. If that was the intension, it was not always effective and often proved more of a distraction. But Helen Q. Huang has a field day with her fun and often outrageous costumes, bringing out American stereotypes such as a cat lady, fiery redneck, and the New York criminal element walking the mean streets.

Ludicrous yet thought provoking, Soft Power is a comic delight that is especially timely in what is sure to be a nail-biting election season.