CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM The audience is treated to a serving of tiramisu at the same time the cast is presented with dessert in the dinner theater production "Tiramisu on the Beach" at Indigo Eurasian Cuisine. On stage -- which is actually a raised table in the dining room -- are Eric Nemoto and James McCarthy.

Dramatic dinner plans

Eat along with the cast at Indigo's dinner show

In the beginning, it was plate lunches. "We couldn't afford to practice with filet mignon and oysters on the half shell and all of that stuff," playwright Jon Brekke said. "But as we got closer to opening the show and I saw the food come together, that's when it dawned on me."

Brekke's play, "Tiramisu on the Beach," unfolds as two ex-lovers discuss a sexual harassment lawsuit while sharing dinner served by a personal chef. The plot progresses as the characters make their way through dinner, drinks -- and tiramisu.

"It was during rehearsals that the idea started coming to me that it was written for a dinner show," Brekke explains.

That was last spring, and the show was headed for a conventional stage at The Actors' Group's Yellow Brick Studio. It played there as a "dark night" production for two weekends.

Last month the show reopened at Indigo Eurasian Cuisine, fulfilling the playwright's vision of a dinner-theater production to the extreme. Not only do those in the audience eat as the players eat, they eat what the players eat.

The subject matter -- sexual harassment -- is more challenging than what the usual dinner-theater audience is asked to absorb.

Brekke said he cut "15 to 17 pages, at least 15 minutes" and lightened the story to make it a better fit for an upscale filet-mignon-and-oyster experience.

"At Yellow Brick you can be more dark and dramatic because you're so close and film-like. ... None of the time that I took out was on the chef (character). I took some of the long-winded dialogue between the two characters, and I also reduced the beach scene. I think it was an opportunity to pace it better toward the entertainment side."

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Kevi Keenom serves Margo Bourland during the play. Diners may eat and drink exactly what the performers are being served or choose from chicken or fish options.

The audience at Indigo is served the same meal that Nemoto and Wormser are eating on stage, which is actually a table in the middle of the restaurant.

The menu begins with an Asian Caesar salad and oysters on the half shell, followed by beef loin and dessert. For the sake of the restaurant experience, though, the audience is offered some choices -- won ton instead of the oysters, chicken or fish instead of the beef. Those 21 and older can pair each dish with a wine selected by Cass, Indigo's resident wine steward.

Other changes were made to accommodate food service, Brekke said.

"We added an extra intermission for food service to come in and out and came up with a timetable for the kitchen. Basically it's a page a minute, so at 30 to 40 pages -- 30 to 40 minutes -- that's when we're gonna do the main entrée, and at the last 10 pages, when (the characters) fall asleep at the beach, we have the little break so they can clear the tables and serve the tiramisu."

Brekke said the original production would probably appeal more to serious artists and those interested in unique perspectives, but that the changes for Indigo worked out well. The editing "was more like a scalpel than a butcher's cleaver. I was thinking how lucky we are that it's an original script and we can make improvements every step of the way. Doing the show a second time with a different focus gave us a chance to do that."

Artistic issues aside, Brekke said dinner theater is more work than a conventional show.

"When you set up the show at Yellow Brick, you set up your show and it's done. At Indigo, one night a week you start from scratch. Set up the whole place. Set up the sound system, move the tables around, get your little props in there, and when the show is over you have to take everything out."

For the chef, on the other hand, Wednesdays are just another day at the office.

Indigo often hosts special events for crowds while still serving its regular menu to other customers, Chu said. "It's not as if we don't have parties of 30, 40, 50, 60 or more, while we're still doing dinners, so it's a natural thing."

When an event is going on at nearby Hawaii Theatre on the same night, the restaurant is often full, Chu said, but it helps that service for "Tiramisu" is carefully timed. "With 'Tiramisu,' your entrée may not be going out until 8:15, and by that time, the dinner crowd has already gone off to the theater. There are ways that we overlap it, and it's easy enough to do both."

Brekke wishes he could watch the show sometime without being involved in the production. "When do you ever really get a chance to wine and dine while taking in live theater? I wish I could take it in while somebody else is doing all the work."

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Eric Nemoto and Cassandra Wormser ponder their legal positions in "Tiramisu on the Beach."

Sexual harassment drama is a delectable dish

Few plays work well as dinner theater. "Tiramisu on the Beach" is one of the exceptions. It isn't much of a leap to visualize the actors eating at a picnic table, and the impact of this engaging look at sexual harassment remains intact.

The play -- "Tiramisu" for short -- opened in its new dinner theater form at Indigo Eurasian Cuisine in September, but Jon Brekke and his writing partner, actor Eric Nemoto, first presented it as conventional theater in a special "dark night" engagement produced by The Actors Group last spring.

Nemoto starred as Wren, an attorney representing the defendant in a sexual harassment case. Dorothy Stamp played his adversary, Tara, the attorney representing the plaintiff.

With Stamp now in Los Angeles, Brekke cast Cassandra Wormser as her replacement for the new show. Once again Nemoto has a worthy co-star and adversary in this memorable, thought-provoking battle of the sexes.

Wren was a partner in a major law firm, and married, when the young Tara was hired as a paralegal. Looking back, Wren says he wasn't expecting a sexual relationship the first few times he invited Tara for coffee. Later, though, he'd meant it when he told her he loved her and would leave his wife for her.

But it didn't work out that way. Wren stayed with his wife. Tara lost her job and almost had an emotional breakdown but was able to get into law school. She now specializes in sexual harassment cases as a successful attorney.

Now on opposite sides of a big sexual harassment case, Wren invites Tara to discuss the case after hours at a beach park. He also hires a chef to cater a gourmet meal for their supposedly casual meeting. James McCarthy reprises his role as the chef.

Brekke and Nemoto explored similar enigmatic, sexually charged issues in 2001 with TAG's production of David Mamet's "Oleanna." But "Tiramisu" goes beyond "Oleanna" in taking the issue of sexual harassment out of a sterile academic environment and approaching it from practical real-life perspectives.

Tara explains why some young women in entry-level jobs might feel forced to accept social invitations from higher-ups. Wren tells her that some women -- not her, but some women -- aggressively flirt with their male superiors and encourage their advances. Some women -- not her, but some women -- enjoy watching the way men react to their tight or revealing clothes. And some misinterpret innocent compliments as sexual harassment.

Brekke and Nemoto give Tara an effective voice and offer men a good idea of how things can look from a woman's perspective. Brekke says he's particularly touched when women tell him they're surprised that two men could write a play that articulates the experiences and feelings of women with such perception.

With excellent food, good service and a well-written, compelling story, "Tiramisu on the Beach" at Indigo is a perfect night out for anyone mature enough to want more than sex from the opposite sex. The issues and insights that percolate through the play are certain to fuel stimulating conversation afterward as well.