Playwright Lee A. Tonouchi's "Gone Feeshing" explores brother-to-brother and father-to-son relationships with humor.
Brothers’ rivalry runs
as deep as the oceanScene changes indicated by the sound of the ocean, accompanied by the choreographed movements of a woman as Da Ocean, are among the engaging elements in Kumu Kahua's multi-faceted staging of Lee A. Tonouchi's "Gone Feeshing."
Directed by Harry Wong III, "Gone Feeshing" offers a deep yet lightly comical look at the universal issues of sibling rivalry and father/son relationships. Kumu Kahua has already distinguished itself this season with "Obake" and "Massie/Kahahawai," but "Gone Feeshing" is of comparable excellence.
"Gone Feeshing": Continues at 8 p.m. Thursdays to Saturdays, and 4 p.m. Sundays through June 13, at Kumu Kahua Theatre, 46 Merchant St. wTickets are $16; $13 on Thursdays. Discounts available. Call 536-4441.
Moses Goods III (Wayne) and Squire F. Coldwell (Grayson) star as brothers who have had a prickly relationship since their father's death more than a decade earlier. They have yet to come to terms with his passing. Wayne, 32, has jumped from job to job in search of money and "chicks," but now has a tenuous grip on success as the host of a fishing-and-cooking TV show. Grayson, 29, is a teacher. He surprises Wayne by announcing plans to marry his longtime girlfriend and buy a house.
Wayne, still single and living at home, sees the impending marriage as one more way his younger brother is making him look like a loser to their mother. The two almost come to blows, and Grayson suggests they mellow out by meditating.
Suddenly they are swept away into a strange netherworld where time ebbs and flows, carrying them back in time to reconsider their experiences as brothers and their relationships with their father (Wil K.T. Kahele).
A PATTERN quickly emerges. Grayson was a teenage over-achiever who studied hard, got good grades, and devoted his spare time to community service projects that looked good on his college applications. Wayne preferred card playing because a "C" was all it took to participate in sports.
Grayson feared the ocean and never learned to swim well; Wayne was a master waterman.
As adults, Grayson leads a protest against the use of gill nets, while Wayne considers boosting his show's ratings by revealing the location of secret fishing spots. Wayne also enhances the entertainment value of his show with computer tricks that make the fish he catches appear larger and more dangerous than they are -- a 500-pound manini with razor-sharp teeth caught off Waikiki, for example -- and dreams of getting bikini model Patricia Ford to be his co-host.
IT SAYS MUCH for Tonouchi's playwriting skill that "Gone Feeshing" is neither simplistic pidgin comedy nor a cloyingly earnest look at what it means to be "local." Tonouchi maintains a refreshingly light touch throughout and refrains from relying on toilet humor or references to local landmarks and celebrities as punch lines.
A couple of local celebrities are mentioned, and Wayne's television show spoofs egotistical local disc jockeys, but Tonouchi's use of comic devices overall is far more sophisticated than the norm.
Goods and Coldwell are a superb team. Goods has played similar characters, but displays greater range here as he shifts easily through the stages of Wayne's development: eager child, belligerent teen, foul-mouthed yet vulnerable adult. Goods' effective facial expressions are important to his performance, although Kumu Kahua's theater-in-the-round staging makes it impossible for anyone to see them all.
Coldwell also morphs convincingly from adult to teen to child and back. His portrayal of Grayson as a child terrified of the water shows how effectively he can create a character distinct from himself.
Kahele, strong and consistent, succeeds in showing that there was more to his quiet housepainter than his sons realized. Coming to grips with that knowledge is an important aspect of their journey.
Malia Yamamoto (Da Ocean) makes a stellar Kumu Kahua debut. She appears first in an oddly choreographed interpretation of "Beyond the Reef," but proves to be a versatile and thoroughly entertaining actress. Wayne discovers several times that Da Ocean is not to be mistreated -- other scenes show Yamamoto's skill at silently expressing a broad range of emotions. She adds comedy to some scenes and poignancy to others.
Nara M.M.S. Conaty and Cheryl Reconsal Taong share credit for the versatile multi-level beachfront set, and Daniel M. Gelbmann (technical director), Eddy Gudoy (light operator) and Jeffery Chang (sound operator) do great work in creating an appropriate sense of the characters' journey through time. Mathias Maas (props design) adds a few visual surprises as well.
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