Polerand

“re⋅dux [ri-duhks]

–adjective brought back; resurgent: ”

Reduxion Theatre Company missed the mark on their performance of Romeo and Juliet set in 1957 Japan. Despite the unique setting, the novelty quickly faded and ended up feeling more like a gimmick.

Performance date and location — December 6th, Oklahoma City: Stage Center (Thrust Theater).

Set Design: B+

Red tendrils spread out starting down stage and heading left, right, and back up stage against the black floor like a remarkable rising sun. It was stunningly simplistic and worked well as one of the red streaks snaked and was covered with boards to serve as a walkway. Up stage right was a Japanese home, while up stage left held a large, plain military shed with the sign: “Verona Navy Base”. I spent a good 10 minutes pondering if it should have said “Verona Naval Base”.

Setting: C-

It seems like a good idea — Romeo and Juliet, “star-crossed lovers”, family conflict … why not make Romeo a US Sailor and Juliet a Japanese girl? There’s lots of cultural friction to be exploited. However, making the entire Navy as Montagues let all the air out of the idea. Perhaps it would have worked if the Prince were not also in a US Navy uniform, yet somehow separate from the Montagues and unwilling to discpline them. Maybe if the Montagues were headed by a former Navy man who decided to stay in Japan after being discharged (honorable or no). Then, it might make a bit more sense. There are also problems with the setting which will be addressed later …

Direction: C

Too much was made of the character Peter, serving as a distraction from the troubles in the rest of the play. After the odd narrative cacaphony, the first scene was plagued by the repetition of a crude motion for sex. I am by no means suprised or put off by this — Shakespeare was hardly a saint and would likely have supported such a motion — but that it was done three times in two minutes frustrated me. Could they (Peter and Gregory) come up with nothing else to do? Later, Peter literally stuffed his face with seven sushi rolls before running off stage. While humorous, these antics smacked of a ploy and became unwelcome.

Costumes: A-

Kimonos were beautiful and fifties US military uniforms looked reasonably accurate, especially the lady Balthasar’s uniform. However, Lord Capulet wore a fez. I admit that I don’t know much about traditional Japanese style, but the fez? That seemed odd. I would have scored this higher if it weren’t for the fact that the uniforms didn’t fit the actors wearing them. These are supposed to be military uniforms and, while I understand it can be difficult to tuck a shirt in properly when you’re trying to quickly change outfits, it is important for the uniforms to be properly tucked and to fit properly.

Stage Combat: C-

I’m not saying it is easy, but I am saying I know how it works. Or, should I say, how it is supposed to work. It did not work here, however. There was too much awkwardness. Maybe it was a lack of preperation, but the swords were flinging very far from the mark and the person defending him or herself had no choice but to jump into the path of the blade in order to make the defense look necessary. The best combat occurred at the end of the play when Paris and Romeo fought with a hammer and pickaxe.

Casting: C+

I will discuss the actors specifically, but I believe the lesser actors were given larger roles than they should have been playing. Perhaps they were wanting to give less experienced actors some stage experience, which I applaud, but the actors playing minor roles often overshadowed others when they shared the stage.

Ty Fanning (Romeo) — this young man is still in high school, which probably suits the role of Romeo, but I wasn’t expecting much out of him. He started out a bit stiff but really started to shine after the death of Tybalt. He won me over and proved he deserved the role.

Tomoko Saito (Juliet) — fresh out of college with a theater degree, she recited her lines well, but struggled to show emotion through her facial expressions. Her lips said one thing, but the rest of her face often said something different — normally, it seemed to say “confusion”. Also, her accent was a slight hurdle and became unbearable when she was facing up stage.

Kurt Leftwich (Prince) — stiff. I expected much more from someone with such local credits as The Pollard Theatre, Sooner Theatre, Summerstock, Stage Door and the Jewel Box, and he seemed impressive early on with a good voice and stage presence. However, he seemed the same throughout the play — it did not matter if Mercutio was alive or dead; his lines may have said he was supposed to care, but he didn’t seem to care. In the final, tumultous scene where he has most of his lines, rather than having his hands down to his side, his elbows were slightly bent, as if the uniform did not fit properly and the sleeves were in danger of ripping should he straighten his arm too much. Needles to say, he did not appear very natural and did not sound it, either.

Quin Gasaway (Mercutio/Abram) — in the playbill he asks, or politely demands, “Please review often.” I figure he’s asking for reviews because he knows he’s good. While, admittedly, there’s more to the role than, say, Prince, and it is likely easier to excel at such a role, but it still requires talent. And he excelled.

Christopher Curtis (Lord Capulet) — he did a good job with both the comedic and dramatic moments. He knew his part inside and out and was excellent. As a co-founder of a comedic improv group (Red Dirt Improv), I expected him to be good at comedy — but his performance was well balanced, his speech was articulate, and his projection was superb.

Hiriko Hoshikawa (Lady Capulet) – forgot her lines. Really, one of the most awkward moments I’ve experienced at a play is when Lady Capulet was talking to Juliet and just stopped. She looked at her hands, the air, but the lines were not there. It was quite possibly the longest 25 seconds of the entire play. Luckily, it ended. She also was difficult to hear, and looked more like a slightly older sister to Juliet than a mother. Lacked emotion.

Erin Woods (Nurse/Lady Montague) — best performance of the night. She stole nearly every scene she was in; even when she was one of the characters in the background, I found myself watching to see what she (and Peter) would be doing. Of note, she rescued the scene with Lady Capulet and Juliet (the same one where Lady Capulet forgot her lines).

Rory Littleton (Friar Lawrence) — nevermind a friar in 1957 Japan (was he a Jesuit?), this man can act. Superb projection, emotion and stage presence — you have to love when an actor’s spit is visible in the stage lights. I don’t have much more to say other than he was one of the top three performers on the stage.

Mao Yanagawa (Tybalt/Apothecary) — hardest to understand. I was thrilled when Tybalt died because then I knew I would be able to understand a greater percentage of the lines fro mthat point on. And yes, a female Tybalt — apparently, the decision was made in an effort to make Juliet and Tybalt into “mirror images of each other in the Japanese culture”, according to Tyler Woods, artistic director of the RTC (quote taken from The Oklahoma Gazette’s preview article). It might have worked had I been able to understand Tybalt, but it came across flat and contrived.

Devin Scott Hannaford (Benvolio) — another high schooler and also better than expected. Perhaps it was that both he and fellow teen Ty Fanning both attend the same school but the comaraderie between Benvolio and Romeo seemed genuine. Unfortunately, many times Benvolio was standing aloof, looking like a stiff board that did not belong, particularly when Romeo and Mercutio were engaging in horseplay and friendly jibes. I chalk it up to inexperience alone.

Jon Haque (Peter/Lord Montague) — hilarious, but a big crutch for the play. Even more so than the nurse, he was a delight to watch even in the background; unlike the nurse, prat falls and typical gags were his trade. However, as Lord Montague he showed his true acting ability, loudly bemoaning the death of his son, Romeo. I was truly frustrated that we were only allowed to see this side of his ability for three minutes at the end of the play. Really fantastic ability and a natural sense for the crowd.

Nicko Sabado (Paris/Gregory) — he seemed better before he spoke the majority of his lines towards the end of the play. However, when he wailed over the supposed death of Juliet, I was stunned by the lack of depth. He might as well have been upset because someone spilled a cappucino in the third row. Not his cappucino, any cappucino. There wasn’t even enough emotion for it to be his own cappucino. Other times he rushed through his lines, seemingly in an effort to get it all over with. Perhaps to go clean up the spill in the third row.

Mariah Webb (Balthasar) — flat and stiff. There was no depth to the character whatsoever. Admittedly, there were hardly any lines, but every line is an opportunity, and all opportunities were spoilt like the spilled cappucino. Nothing else can really be said here.