As “Bald Sisters” begins, Him (Nicole Tung) has to rev herself up for her prodigal sister’s return. Any reunion would have been fraught, but now that Sophea (Rinabeth Apostol) has even more reason than usual to be mad — she didn’t even know their mother was dying — Him needs to batten down the hatches and sharpen her claws.
As these two debate what their Cambodian mother’s last wishes might have been, Vichet Chum’s dialogue is gloriously, spectacularly unsentimental. “Dang, you leave for a little bit, and everything’s changed,” Sophea remarks. “Dang, you leave for a lotta bit, and you don’t get a say in the house,” Him retorts. Chum has a keen ear for the spiky way we fight with family — the way each ripostes kindle into an inferno, the way every fight is always the same, age-old fight.
Thedazzlingly busy Jeffrey Lodirects the West Coast premiere for San Jose Stage Company.