Shadows
on the Rising Sun
by
Michael Dresdner
L to R: Kathy Hsieh, Susan Mayeno, Eloisa Cardone, Aya Hashiguchi, Joy Misako St. Germain Photo by Jason Ganwich
Dukesbay
Productions opened its season last night with a flawless and gripping presentation
of Velina Hasu Houston’s play Tea. With it, the fledgling company has definitively
affirmed its credentials as a top notch theatre group, laying to rest any
suspicion that last year’s Driving Miss Daisy was merely a fluke. Yes, they
still dispense such candy floss as Java Tacoma, but clearly, they can deliver
the goods as well.
The play
opens as the lights go up on a beautiful, crisply serene teahouse with low
table, sliding shoji screens, and a sweeping, sumi-e style backdrop.
Foreshadowing the conflicts to come, Kate Smith sings “God Bless America,”
followed by Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man,” which in turn gives way to a
calming, traditional, Japanese samisen song. In spite of appearances, we are
just outside Ft. Riley in Junction City, Kansas, and the year is 1968.
Himiko
(Eloisa Cardone) steps out on stage, barefoot and bewigged, her forlornly slack
kimono draped over her “American” dress. She launches into a powerfully heart-wrenching
disgorgement of emotion, revealing years of pain, disappointment, and betrayal.
Then, with dignity and hope both exhausted, she takes her own life.
From
that moment on, the five women of Tea will hold you in thrall through an
intimate, deeply evocative journey into the lives and travails of Japanese “war
brides” striving to survive in post-war
America.
By the
time the virtual curtain dropped some 90 minutes later, my stomach was clenched
and my mouth parched. This play was that powerful.
While
gathered to deal with the aftermath of Himiko’s suicide, four other brides,
each with a decidedly different story and finely crafted characters to match, sip
tea and recount the past so vividly it comes alive. All five, the living and
dead, tell their stories through flashbacks, at times portraying their younger
selves both here and in Japan, their very Americanized children, and even their
occasionally boorish husbands.
All
giddily in love at the time they wed, these five women had no idea what
cultural bias and upheaval they’d face stateside once their military husbands
brought them “home.” Aided by well-chosen costumes and props, they flesh out
their stories.
There’s
Himiko Hamilton, married to an abusive Southern redneck and trying to cling to
her dignity in the face of egregious hurts, and magnificently brought alive in
an absolutely stellar performance by Eloisa Cardone.
Like a
still, deep lake, Teruko MacKenzie (Joy Misako St. Germain) is an anchor of
serenity, so contentedly devoted to her husband that even her daughter feels
some slight.
Setsuko
Banks (Susan Mayeno ) copes surprisingly well, her Asian fortitude as her
bulwark against the added disdain she had no idea would come from having
married a “black” soldier.
Atsuko
Yamamoto (Aya Hashiguchi) married a Japanese-American, and wears her haughty
superiority proudly, seeing herself as therefore more Japanese than the others.
The most
Americanized of all, Chizuye Juarez (Kathy Hsieh) wears slacks and has mastered
not only English (replete with requisite nicknames,) but much of her accent as
well, perhaps an overreaction to her Latino husband.
The
entire ensemble cast is amazing, individually and together. These are all performances
of the highest caliber, and every one of these women deserves the loftiest praise
an actor can get.
Technical
support is no less. Adroitly directed by Randy Clark, the play unfolds on a
wonderful set designed by Burton Yuen and built by Hector Juarez, with a divine
bamboo and wood floor painted by Jen Ankrum and Blake York, and a sweeping
sumi-e backdrop designed by Lois Yoshida and painted by Steve Chanfrau. Nicolas
Olson and Bethany Bevier did the excellent sound and lighting design, and
Jeffery Weaver assembled a flawless array of costumes and props. During one
segue there’s a moving, period-evocative slide show by Mick Flaaen.
I really
can’t say enough good things about this play, so I’ll stop here. Suffice it to
say this is everything great theatre is meant to be; a gripping story,
magnificent acting, and ideal technical support. In short, this is one
production you really don’t want to miss.
Tea
Oct. 30
to Nov. 16, 2014
Dukesbay
Theater
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