Chay Yew's play Porcelain contributes to queer literature, but much of the nuanced beauty and impact of the play remains wrapped up in the production itself. Yew calls the piece a "voice play" meaning the action revolves around the protagonist, John's, internal dialogue with himself and his perception of the voices around him -- his father, his psychiatrist, his lover, etc. The action is secondary to the dialogue, but both combine to form a compelling depiction of repression and the tragic effect of hateful social norms upon the individual psyche.
Although all people are inherently lonely, John's situation is especially so. He lives a secret life, hooking up with other gay men in bathrooms, often a dangerous and unfulfilling endeavor. Afraid to live openly gay, John falls into the trap of self-hatred, wishing desperately to be something he is not because what he is doesn't fall into the realm of the socially acceptable in his specific moment in culture. Add to this John's struggle to accept his Chinese heritage and you've got a recipe for serious self-loathing -- the dangerous kind.
Yew does not pull punches. He sets the audience up to appreciate the collapse of this young man's life by opening the play with a murder. Although the audience knows nothing else about John, they know he's being arrested for murdering a man in the public bathrooms. They see him slowly descend into madness during his incarceration. Winding backward, Yew outlines the events which contributed to John's breakdown and arrest. Because of the structure and sequencing the audience is forced to reconcile potential snap judgments with empathy as they observe how exterior forces have contributed to John's problems. His community -- society -- has done irrevocable harm to John rather than supporting him.
