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Drama, comedy
By John Berger
skillfully blend
Special to the Star-BulletinKumu Kahua opts not to participate in the Hawaii State Theatre Council's annual Po'okela Awards competition and the HSTC therefore does not include Kumu Kahua productions when "Pokies" are handed out. If circumstances were different, playwright Margaret Jones would be a strong contender for "Best Original Script" category this year for her first full-length play, "The Season of Yellow Ginger."
Jones slowly shares the experience of being a member of a large local family and then interweaves two fascinating stories. The show's world premiere was staged at Kumu Kahua this past weekend.
The Season of Yellow Ginger: 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, through Feb. 6; Kumu Kahua Theatre; tickets $12 for Thursday, $15 other performances, discounts available; call 536-4222; charge by phone at 536-4441.
Dann Seki and J. Martin Romualdez give Po'okela-worthy performances as the male leads.
Seki appears as Levi, an aging branch on a very large and tangled local family tree. Levi is physically healthy but aware that his mind is dimming. He tells his grandson, Daniel (Romualdez), that when the time comes "let me go."
Daniel is visiting from the mainland to escape the emotional carnage of his father's second divorce. Unlike the local members of the ohana, Daniel has little sense of family and is painfully uncomfortable around women. Daniel eventually confesses to Levi that although he is only a few credits short of graduating from USC with a 4.0 average he is still a virgin.
Daniel is likewise shocked to learn that his grandparents still "do it."
Seki has distinguished himself in a number of Kumu Kahua productions and does so again here. Levi is instantly likable and engaging, and Seki skillfully plays out the tragedy of gradual mental impairment.
Romualdez has likewise done excellent work in previous shows and is one of the best local actors still to be discovered by Hawaii's mainstream community theater groups. He adds another fine dramatic performance to his resume here, and reaffirms his skill with physical comedy as well.
The relationship between Levi and Daniel becomes a central theme. The interplay between Seki and Romualdez is excellent across a wide range of dramatic situations.
Several other cast members add strong performances in other areas. Nyla Ching-Fujii (Moana) brings warmth and tenderness to the scenes that show the loving relationship between Levi and his wife.
Claire Aimee Unabia (Sarah) and Claire M. Antenorcruz (Kehau) add strong comic performances as Daniel's hard-drinking, free-and-easy living cousins.
One of the first great comic scenes involves drunken Sarah seeing Daniel in a nightclub, kissing him aggressively, and only then discovering -- yuck! gross! -- she's touched tongues with a cousin!
Daniel, Kehau and Sarah must then pretend not to have seen each other since the last family reunion when they are brought together the next day by well-meaning kupuna who tell the two girls to make sure Daniel has a good time during his visit. The elders obviously have no idea of how the girls behave when they're in the clubs. The scene with the cousins keeping their guilty secrets from the older folks involves several basic components of contemporary comedy. Jones and director Harry Wong III interweave them all with fine comic results.
Unabia shows her skill as a straight dramatic actress when the relationship between Daniel and his cousins becomes more complicated.
Alexandra M. Oliver and JanDee Abraham add color as two competitive kupuna. Jeaneen Tang completes the cast as an aggressive friend of Sarah and Keahu who dances in a "strip club" where the performers keep their clothes on.
The biggest problem with the production is the usual one at Kumu Kahua. "Yellow Ginger" is presented in the round and so there are no seats that offer a "best view" of the entire performance. Some of the detail work will be blocked by a cast member no matter which seat you chose.
On the other hand, a few lucky people in the front row can expect direct interaction with the cast.
BullDog (set design), Donald Ranney Jr (lighting), and Keith Kashiwada (sound design) share credit for creating a visually interesting environment. Expect to be confused for a moment the first time the setting changes from Levi's home to a nightclub. At other times, the cues provided by Ranney and Kashiwada generally suffice.
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