THE TAO OF THE WORLD – REVIEW OF 2026 STRATFORD FESTIVAL PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

Jovanni Sy’s play The Tao of the World is described in the Stratford Festival’s 2026 Guide as a “Restoration comedy for modern times.” It is supposed to be inspired by William Congreve’s The Way of the World. I am not sure about all that but it is irrelevant.

The play is set among the wealthy people of Singapore. The theatre-in-the-round Tom Patterson does not allow for opulent sets but we are dealing with the upper crust. Five of the leading characters are Chinese and many are British-educated. A note in the script informs us that parts of the play are performed in Mandarin, Tamil, Malay, Indonesian, Singaporean, Hokkien and Tagalog.

That’s seven languages.

The performance opens with a lively, indeed exuberant Arabella (played with zeal by  Agnes Tong)  who grabs the attention of the audience and tells us that the play is the story of how she married the love of her life, Edward Lim (Angus Yam). She is self-assured, vocally commanding and a woman who gets what she wants. Edward is a premier cricketer, a fashion star, a singer and a movie star. As Arabelle describes Edward, he struts across the stage taking poses as a cricketer, singer etc. and generating laughs from a receptive audience.

Arabella is in love with Edward and she is open to a session of shagging but there are two impediments to the event: Edward is practicing celibacy and he is in love with Arabella’s cousin Millicent (Heidi Sy Damayo). He met her on social media and has never seen her in person but he will. The very young and innocent Millicent shows up ready to get to “know” Edward and in fact she has made a reservation at a swank hotel to make sure that her acquaintance has biblical proportions. When Edward refuses to go there, she decides to go to the hotel by herself and find sexual fulfillment alone.

We have just started with the plot complications. The imperious Lady Helena (Manami Hara) must approve Millicent’s marriage to Edward, whom she hates. Dr. Wilson Wong (Michael Man), a Chinese Canadian is a much better choice if you ignore or are unaware of his sexual proclivity. Lady Helena may be more amenable if she has coitus with a monk. Who can find one? Devan (Karthik Kadam) and Jackson (Derek Kwan) have a special problem: they are homosexuals in a country where it is illegal. And what about the Englishman Trevor Flynn (Tim Campbell) who is married to Arabella?

Members of the company, The Tao of the World. 
Stratford Festival 2026. Photo: David Hou.

Arabella frequently speaks directly to the audience and one of best lines is about Eleanor (Sara- Jeanne Hosie), an English lady described as Lady Helena’s lapdog. Arabella tells us that she has had a lot of work done and her latest procedure was surgically attaching her lips to her Ladyship’s arse. 

There are many revelations to be disclosed. Why does Lady Helena hate Edward? What human failings does that gorgon have? How virginal is Millicent? Money, sex and social status are the prime concerns in this society.

Set Designer Lorenzo Savoini has limited choices in his set design. Moveable pieces of furniture are about all he can give us in the Toma Patterson Theatre. Ming Wong provides elegant costumes for the upper upper crust and less ostentatious ones for hoi polloi. The lighting design by Sophie Tang is used judiciously for different scenes including the indication of speaking directly to the audience.   

Director and author Sy sets a comic, at times farcical, at times satiric pace with quick speech and plenty of gestures that may have been a part of Restoration comedy.  

I have given a positive summary of what I saw on opening night. Unfortunately, there are some negatives. The setting of Singapore with British-educated Chinese is terra incognita, I presume, to most of the audience.  Speaking for myself, I am not sure of the context of the play. If I knew that, the geographical place would be no issue. The accents were unrecognizable and, in many instances, sounded just bad. Speaking in half a dozen languages did not help. At times parts of the dialogue were incomprehensible. Sy is a Canadian and the Stratford Festival deserves kudos for producing his plays. In this case some attention to some details may have resulted in a resounding complaints-less production.
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The Tao of the World by Jovanni Sy opened on August 20, and will run in repertory until September 26, 2026, at the Tom Patterson Theatre, Stratford, Ont. https://www.stratfordfestival.ca/

James Karas is the Culture Editor of The Greek Press, Toronto