Review:
Cleveland Raining
by Sung Rno
AATC, 6/95

"Quirky, original and power-charged by some fine performances, this comedy about highway accidents, cornfields, private diasporas lights up the Asian American stage...

"The play...doesn't have its elements all in synch yet, and the ending labors to deliver the characters to a new plane of recognition. But Rno can make a scene dance and skitter in some surprising ways...Rno has remapped Sam Shepard country onto the blank slate of Ohio and given it the added dimension of ethnicity. Beneath its spryly rendered comic surfaces, Cleveland Raining is about the injuries, both willful and accidental, that families and cultures inflict upon themselves."

Steven Winn, SF Chronicle

"Between the distressed Volkswagen onstage, the punishing sound effects and the more-than-punget aroma of kimchi, one thing you can say about Cleveland Raining is that it has atmosphere to spare. It can also be pretty wildly funny...Beyond that, though, Sung Sung Rno's semi-apocalyptic, dysfunctional family comedy...is something of a mess.

"Which is not to say that it isn't entertaining, at least for much of its quirkly, wayward duration. Nor, that humor is all the play has going for it. Cleveland may have all the earmarks of a beginning playwright...but it errs on the side of creative excess. Rno (pronounced "no") is clearly a writer to watch....

"Rno is after something more than absurdist apocalyptic comedy. He's trying to use the dysfunctional Kim family to explore themes of desertion and connection within and beyond the Korean experience...He hasn't found the balance he needs to develop his themes, however. As sharp and as engaging the comedy is, the serious undercurrents feel self-important. "

Robert Hewitt, SF Examiner

These two reviews are available in their entirety on the web, at the SF Chronicle/Examiner's web site at www.sfgate.com. Use the search engine; the Chronicle review is on 6/16/1995; the Examiner review is dated 6/14/95.

[A&E Program Guide] [Home] [ABC Info] [E-mail]