KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Norman Munoz, left, Khetphet Phagnasay, back, and Eunsook Kim, right, tend to patient Chihiro Hosono.
lood spilled due to violence and blood ties due to family are regular themes in drama, but what of this life force that courses through our veins, our common link as human beings?
By Gary C.W. Chun
gchun@starbulletin.comThis is the question theater artist Colleen Lanki and her cross-cultural, multiethnic cast will address beginning tonight in a collaborative piece entitled "Bloodline." It's also a multilingual and interdisciplinary work that incorporates dance, music, monologues and projected video.
"Bloodline" marks a line of work the Canadian began in Tokyo as the founder and artistic director of Kee Company. Lanki is here to complete a master's degree in Asian theater at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, in a place perfect to find talented artists from all parts of Asia.
"There is some amazing talent here," she said, speaking about her cast, whose members originally hail from Japan, Korea, Laos and the Philippines. "I met just about everyone at the UH theater department, like Chihiro Hosono; Eunsook Kim, who's getting a MFA in dance; Khetphet Phagnasay, while not a student, has professional experience as an actor; and Norman Muñoz, who's a Tahitian dancer here but is Filipino-French, and plays a character who is the common thread throughout the performance.
"He plays a doctor, someone I thought I needed to represent the modern, post-colonial, Western point of view."
Other themes Lanki and her Kee Company have explored through shows in Japan, Canada and Australia have been mother-daughter relationships, voyages and the concept of home. Now she tackles the theme of blood, asking her cast "to bring in their stories, thoughts and experiences, collecting and gathering images and music and, from there, try to create whole scenes, choreography or music.
"I enjoy working with movement and music," she said. "This is not a strictly-by-the-book play. It's a bit nonlinear, although the doctor character goes through a linear progression and grows with each unfolding story. But there are some mood pieces as well.
"Khetphet tells a story that's basically about the heritage of his name. It's almost like an Excalibur myth, where he sings his story in Laotian."
Those going to see "Bloodline" should not expect some colorful costumed mini-epic. "There are elements of color and small items of clothing that are related to the performers' native cultures, but they'll be dressed predominantly for comfort and easy movement. This is very actor-driven," Lanki said.
But do expect a lot of musical elements, with Deborah Masterson and Cristian E. Ellauri playing various percussion like gongs and drums.
Back to the blood. "I like to work with something that moves my imagination and engages me philosophically," Lanki said. "And I like how blood is both this tangible element, red and liquid, that can also be thought of as intangible in a metaphorical sense -- like what does the phrase 'it's in the blood' really mean? Does it mean it's an inherited trait, or could it be something learned? Cultural things are supposedly 'in our blood' as well. Does that mean a shared cultural heritage?
"Back in medieval Europe, blood transfusions were thought to be able to even change a person's temperament. Anyway, I admit this is bit ambitious, and I hope we pull it off. There's always different responses to this kind of collage work. But I hope the audience will go with the flow, as these ideas weave and spiral."
Where: The ARTS at Marks Garage, 1159 Nuuanu Ave. 'Bloodline'
Admission: $10
When: 8 p.m. today and tomorrow; repeats next Friday and Oct. 12
Call: 536-8047
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