The play is an attempt by a Chinese-American playwright to describe his conflicted feelings, being raised by "tiger parents" while confronting the realities of career and lifestyle choices in the United States.
Jennifer has just been dumped by her boyfriend, who excused his leaving by explaining that he at first found her exotic, but was disappointed when she was not "submissive".
[3] Playwright Mike Lew was interviewed on Boston FM radio station WBUR-FM's program All Things Considered to discuss the background of his play.
He explained that "tiger parenting" is not a China-society phenomenon, but rather is a strategy which has been employed by some Chinese immigrants in an attempt to have their next-generation members be more accepted by American society.
Lew said his play is his attempt to a) explain the origin of this strategy in Chinese-origin families; and b) explore the resulting pressures and reactions of the children thus involved.