Paper Angels and Bitter Cane/Two Plays

by Genny Lim

two plays by San Francisco playwright & poet

Genres: Plays

107 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1991

About the author

Genny Lim is an American poet, playwright, and performer. She served as the Chair of Community Arts and Education Committee, and as Chair of the Advisory Board for the San Francisco Writers Corps.

Reviews

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm glad I finally got around to reading Genny Lim's work—she is a playwright who has been on my list since high school.

Of the two plays, Bitter Cane was more interesting to me, just because it's about Chinese American plantation workers in Hawaii. There are some moments that discuss the complicated intertwining between the Asians, Hawaiians, and haoles, which I find fascinating. I actually wish the play delved a little more into it.

The subject matter of Paper Angels was also compelling, and really captures the feeling of captivity on Angel Island. It was maybe more direct in its messaging, I would say.

I'm not entirely sure how I'm supposed to feel now, having finished both of these. If someone has written an in-depth literary analysis, I would love to read it.



September 2026 Update:

Rereading Paper Angels for class. What stands out to me the most this time is the complicity (and this is the phrase I use in my review of Nora Okja Keller's Comfort Woman as well) of white American missionaries—in particular, white American women missionaries. Lim's reference to the Boxer Rebellion is also apt.