InterAct Theatre Company’s ‘Quixotic Professor Qiu’ is a spy mystery that presents a familiar but chilling reality

In the middle of InterAct Theatre Company’s new play Quixotic Professor Qiu, the title character calls out the popular metaphor of the United States as a “melting pot” of diverse peoples and cultures: He reminds the audience that entering a melting pot typically means things get very hot, and then you die.

Professor Qiu, played by the captivating Justin Jain, delivers the caustic joke as he faces harsh scrutiny and persecution under a government that criminalizes immigrants and targets academics for their research. Sound familiar? The timely satirical drama, running at the Proscenium Theatre at the Drake through Feb. 23, comes from New York playwright Damon Chua, who based his text on real-life instances of Chinese American scientists who have been wrongfully accused of spying for China in recent years.

Qiu’s esoteric work on prime numbers hardly seems worthy of international espionage but it’s all thrown into question after he receives a grant from a Chinese university. Under investigation by his bosses and the FBI, Qiu becomes increasingly bitter and indignant as he sees his life and career misconstrued into a malicious plot. It’s later revealed that his research could be weaponized for cyber hacking, a detail that the script could’ve foreshadowed better.

With a sparse, brutalist set by You-Shin Chen and well-rounded cast of five, the production is lean and practical with skillful lighting design by Lindsay Alayne Stephens. Director Chongren Fan focuses on the actors’ sharp and funny dialogue that lambastes the casual racism Qiu experiences and the efforts he must undertake to try clearing his name (which nobody can pronounce correctly). The stakes are much higher than Qiu realizes.

The conspiracy rages on as his friend Anna Zeng (a sympathetic Bi Jean Ngo) refuses to help because it would jeopardize her personally and professionally. The details of Anna’s difficult situation remain opaque; perhaps that’s something a future production could flesh out more.

In his emotional concluding monologue, Qiu mourns his American dream of being treated with fairness and dignity, asking, “The bottom line is, can you really trust someone born in another country?” The professor acknowledges the danger of being associated with “big bad Gina,” referencing President Donald Trump’s exaggerated pronunciation, and breaks the fourth wall to say his story isn’t confined to this fictional play: “That’s the world we live in. That’s the world you live in.”

(Community/Arts) An immigrant mathematician suddenly comes under the FBI’s scrutiny because of his research, forcing him to reexamine his relationship with America and the promises the country held for him.

⌚️ Through Feb. 23,📍 302 South Hicks St., 🌐 interacttheatre.org

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