The discovery of a spy cam pointing up from inside the hotel bathroom toilet of four Korean-American teens on a mission trip to Thailand sets in motion a wild and unexpected chain of events in Anna Moench’s Man Of God, an East West Players World Premiere as funny, dramatic, and edge-of-your-seat gripping as it is a timely reminder that there are no age restrictions where the #metoo movement is concerned.

 If the above seems more than a bit of a spoiler, rest assured. The camera is discovered within the first of Man Of God’s lickety-split eighty minutes, after which playwright Moench gives us ample time to get to know four very different sixteen-year-olds.

From most to least devout, they are:

Samantha (SunHee Seo), sensitive to foul language, excited about the opportunity to save lost souls, and prone to offering an eager “I’ll pray for you” where her less reverent fellow travelers are concerned.

Kyung Hwa (Katherine Ko), not quite so jazzed about Jesus, but as committed to their mission as she is concerned about non-existent weight issues that have her spending extra time in the hotel bathroom.

 Jen (Michele Selene Ang), more interested in getting good grades than in spreading the word … or doing something about a face that would, her companions assure her, look so much better with some makeup.

Mimi (Sandy Nguyen), foul-mouthed, fed-up with the whole church thing, and eager to remind her friends that the men to whom they’ll be handing out Bible pamphlets may well have come to Thailand to diddle little boys dressed as little girls.

Not only are the four girls as different as night is to day, they’ve each been given a reason for their mission trip tailored to meet their specific needs.

Samantha: “Pastor told me we were here to save pedophiles from sin.”
Kyung-Hwa: “He told me that people in Thailand hadn’t heard the good news and we were here to tell them about it.”
Jen: “He told me we were going to volunteer at some school where poor kids get kicked out on the weekend.”
Mimi: “He told me we were just going to go to some malls and hand out pamphlets.”

It doesn’t take long for them to begin speculating about who Pastor really is, from Samantha’s enumeration of the many things he does in Jesus’s name to Mimi’s concern about the way he always hugs his girls, “just a little too close and a little too long.”

 More significantly, they begin to wonder about Pastor’s real reason for getting all four of them to Bangkok and what they ought to do about it.

Far be it from me to divulge the solution they come up with or to reveal which of the girls has a rather grim reason for her “men will be men” attitude towards sexual predators.

What I can say is that playwright Moench has created four of the most richly layered young Asian-American women I’ve seen on stage and screen, that she has an ear for snappy teen-girl dialog that would do Mean Girls, Heathers, or Jawbreakers proud,

 that she’s written three deliciously daring fantasy sequences in three different Korean-movie genres, and that she’s got the balls to let her play go you-could-hear-a-pin-drop silent for seven meticulously staged, deliberately excruciating minutes near the end.

 Director Jesca Prudencio earns sky-high marks for pacing, for imaginative visual use of Justin Humphres’ exciting neon-and-scaffolding-backed hotel room set, and for eliciting absolutely four fabulous performances from actresses who deserve their own Man Of God TV spinoff as well as from a fine Roy Vongtama, who keeps Pastor cryptic enough to defy easy pigeonholing.

Rebecca Bonebrake’s lighting and Howard Ho’s sound design are terrific throughout, but truly take flight when reality turns to fantasy, credit shared with fight director Andy Lowe in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon mode.

 Alexis Carrie’s costumes fit each character to a T. and properties designer Alison Mamann scores high marks as well.

Brandon Hong Cheng is stage manager and Lydia Runge is assistant stage manager.

Last fall’s Vietgone proved East West Players adept at giving a recent Asian-American hit a brand new look and feel, and their latest reveals them equally gifted at debuting new works.

Man Of God is an all-around winner from its thigh-slapping start to its gut-punching finish.

East West Players, David Henry Hwang Theatre, 120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles.
www.eastwestplayers.org

–Steven Stanley
February 7, 2019
Photos: Michael Lamont

Tags: Anna Moench, East West Players, Los Angeles Theater Review