The Dream of Kitamura
Northwest Asian American Theatre
October, 1996

"Nothing is what it seems to be in The Dream of Kitamura. Men in ancient-looking costumes spout phrases from pop culture. The strong pretend weakness, the wise act stupid, and people in love say terrible things to each other...But it's all right...It is a romance, murder mystery, sociological investigation of cross culturalization and family dysfunctions and/or a play about ethical consequences.

"... The movements are also stylized in the scenes in which there is no dialogue - one is simply the pouring of tea - adding a lyrical quality to the design of the production...Enhancing the dream-like quality of the play is designers Richard Lorig and Craig Wollam's set. ...The back of the set is raised, separating the haughty family from the lowly guards and also providing a perch for the two Karma who move set pieces, observe the action and occasionally comment on it with their faces and bodies.

"Patti West's lighting is also dreamy and dramatic....The music is also perfect for the play. Music designer Dan Kuramoto mixed spacey electronic music with sounds from nature for a gorgeous score that gives the action on stage a cosmic dimension."

Roberta Penn, Seattle PI

"When premiered in San Francisco in 1981, Philip Kan Gotanda's The Dream of Kitamura was performed as a postmodern, Pacific Rim pastiche of American cowboy and Japanese samurai myths, Sam Shepard and Akira Kurosawa influences, and East-West musical fusions....Now 15 years later, [director Judi Nihei] gives quite a different slant to Dream of Kitamura. Her measured, exquisitely designed, quasi-ceremonial mounting for the Northwest Asian American Theatre requires some adjustment. But gradually it casts a meditative spell...

"Copying such Kurosawa films as Hidden Fortress (a favorite of both Gotanda and "Star Wars" director George Lucas), the unspecific setting for Kitamura is feudal Japan - which, in this production, features none of the punkish modern accents specified by the script...When Otsu inevitably falls into a sparring courtship with Paola, their sexy banter reminds you of the Princess Lea/Han Solo repartee in Star Wars, and serves the same purpose: It leavens mythic pretentiousness with breezy humor.

"Nihei's stately vision of Kitamura recalls both the vividness of antique Japanese woodcuts and the austerity of Noh drama...Nihei has tightened up the text of Kitamura (with Gotanda's blessing), though it still drags out a few monologues and repeats some sophomoric jokes. More problematic is the unevenness of the ensemble, with Lee, Asis and Choi stronger than the hammy Chin and pretty but stilted Evey...The acting flaws should be remedied. But of much greater impression is the fascinating dream world this NWAAT production so precisely conjures, and admirably sustains."

Misha Berson, Seattle Times

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