THE BODY AND SOUL OF A CHINESE WOMAN Pro­moted as the story of a Chinese woman’s struggle for free­dom and self-realization, this antediluvian comedy instead represents a giant leap backward for women’s issues — not merely decades but centuries. Long past her ingénue years, Amy (Marilyn Zhu) nonetheless remains a bashfully intrepid flower of Asian womanhood, a naive immigrant torn between traditional familial expectations — marry a rich man and have babies — and unfocused fantasies of spiritual and sexual fulfillment. The opposing forces in her life are represented by an insufferably nagging aunt (Ho Jung) and a mischievous inner self (Corrinne M. Chooey) who eventually prods her into the spiked-heels-and-leather-pants guise of a wannabe lesbian who attempts to seduce her English teacher. The plot’s too-numerous-to-mention implausibilities are compounded by playwright C.Y. Lee’s (writer of the 1950s novel The Flower Drum Song) stilted dialogue and the production’s correspondingly hollow performances, under Peter Henry Schroeder’s direction. Zhu, a dancer with no professional acting experience, defines her role with squeals, pouts and simpers. And the between-the-scenes dancing — symbolic of Amy’s repressed yearnings — also lacks the requisite polish. Stella Adler Theater, 6773 Hollywood Blvd., Hlywd.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; thru May 22 (closing perf May 22, 3 p.m.). (32... More >>>