Arts
’After the Quake’ a must-see at the BCA by Jules Becker
MySouthEnd.com ContributorWednesday Jul 22, 2009 Shawn LaCount can tap into the whimsy of "Mr. Marmalade" one season and the nightmare vision of "Assassins" the next.
It should come as no surprise, then, that the gifted Company One artistic director and his trailblazing troupe are shaking up a largely quiet Hub summer theater scene with "After the Quake," a lively adaptation by Frank Galati (of Steppenwolf Theatre fame) of two parts of this 2000 Haruki Murakami work. Based on the acclaimed Japanese author’s "Honey Pie" and "Superfrog Saves Tokyo," this artful mix of surreal fantasy and serious reflection entertains with vivid storytelling even as it examines the fears, uncertainties and mysteries challenging modern human connection and survival. LaCount, casting five local Asian actors and hiring two local musicians for a live complement of classical improvisation, has turned this ostensibly offbeat fare into an instant must-see.
"After the Quake" begins with a deceptively simple storytelling scene. An adult male is telling a precocious and spirited young girl holding a teddy bear a tale about a special honey bear shunned by his fellow bears. As the girl Sala asks how the special bear can write and speak and descriptions of bear and people worlds arise, important themes and images are established, later to be developed and woven into a rich narration that connects the bravery of Sala’s storyteller Junpei in "Honey Pie" and the courage of bank officer Mr. Katagiri in "Superfrog Saves Tokyo." Junpei and Sala’s parents, Sayoko and Takatsuki, turn out to have been best friends a long time ago. Junpei’s early diffidence about courting Sayoko had enabled Takatsuki to woo her. Even so, Junpei remained a kind of mentor and storytelling friend to Sala.
Storytelling ultimately becomes a kind of metaphorical key to Junpei’s locked up feelings. Keeping much of his deep love for Sayoko inside and compensating in part by showering time, attention and kindness on Sala, author Junpei has been able to release his instincts for heroism in his own writing. While Sala, Junpei and her parents all cope in diverse ways with their respective fears and uncertainties one month after the severe 1995 Kobe earthquake (hence the title of the work), the heroic impulse kicks in as the oversized Superfrog connects with Katagiri.
Self-effacing Katagiri, the assistant chief of the lending division of the Shinjuku branch of the Tokyo Security Trust Bank (a title humorously long in its own right) is surprised to find that Superfrog-another creature able to speak in Murakami’s part-parable play-not only admires him but requires his help to save Tokyo from a quake as deadly as the Kobe one. Katagiri’s tenacity in collecting delinquent loans speaks volumes to Frog about the kind of courage necessary to battle Worm, the writhing generator of earth upheavals.
Adding to the whimsy of the situation are Frog’s unexpected allusions to and quoting from the works of the likes of Hemingway and Dostoyevsky.
Will Frog and Katagiri save Tokyo? Will Junpei rescue Sala from nightmares in which Earthquake Man tries to force her and others into tiny boxes? Most important of all, will Junpei summon the courage to declare his love to a now-divorced Sayoko and redeem himself from a pernicious passivity? Ultimately Murakami’s east/west synthesis of feelings and ideas arrives at a satisfying conclusion that wisely leaves part of its mystery unresolved.
Painstaking LaCount and his first-rate actors and musicians make Murakami’s alternately light-hearted and thoughtful tapestry dazzle both eye and ear. Chen Tag catches all of Junpei’s rising optimism as well as his nagging vulnerability and inner struggle to validate his full identity. Sydney K. Penny is properly cocky and inquisitive as Sala, Giselle Ty finds Sayoko’s inner beauty as mother and woman and doubles effectively as the amusing, take-charge Nurse. Martin Lee brings a fitting combination of callousness and camaraderie to Takatsuki and understated majesty to unassuming Katagiri.
Best of all is Michael Tow. Tow delivers Narrator’s understated storytelling with fitting ease and inhabits the role of Frog as fully as though he possesses a second skin. Tow, delivering Frog’s articulate eloquence with juicy inflection and frolicking with appealing agility, will have audiences feeling ready to join him in battling Worm. Violinist Shaw Pong Liu and bass clarinetist James Wylie evoke respective moments of serenity and upheaval in the play with impressive technique.
Sean Cote’s elegantly simple Japan-inspired sets and John Forbes’ mystery-reinforcing lighting enhance the messages and the moods of the play’s complex tableau. Miranda Kau Giurleo dresses Katagiri in trench coat tightness and Frog in green-skinned glory.
Junpei makes a quantum leap to self-validation. "After the Quake" is a welcome jump in passion and performance for area summer offerings, and Company One-under LaCount’s formidable leadership-once again makes a case for its unique and crucial place in Boston theater.
"After the Quake," by Company One, is playing at the Boston Center for the Arts through August 15. Call 617.933.8600 or visit www.bostontheatrescene.com for more information.
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