{"id":21581,"date":"2011-09-25T22:13:50","date_gmt":"2011-09-26T02:13:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/?p=21581"},"modified":"2012-07-16T08:17:35","modified_gmt":"2012-07-16T12:17:35","slug":"jq-magazine-theatre-review-%e2%80%93-our-two-critics-talk-%e2%80%98crane-story%e2%80%99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/2011\/09\/25\/jq-magazine-theatre-review-%e2%80%93-our-two-critics-talk-%e2%80%98crane-story%e2%80%99\/","title":{"rendered":"JQ Magazine: Theatre Review \u2013 Two Critics Talk \u2018Crane Story\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZWmc3AJc9bs?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>By<\/strong><\/em><strong> <a href=\"..\/..\/?s=Justin+Tedaldi\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Justin Tedaldi<\/em><\/a> <\/strong><em><strong>(CIR <a href=\"http:\/\/www.feel-kobe.jp\/_en\/\" target=\"_blank\">Kobe-shi<\/a>, 2001-02) and <\/strong><\/em><a href=\"..\/?s=Vlad+Baranenko\" target=\"_blank\"><strong><em>Vlad Baranenko<\/em><\/strong><\/a><em><strong> (<a href=\"..\/..\/2011\/06\/02\/local-japan-prefecture-tourism-links\/\"><strong>Saitama-ken<\/strong><\/a>, 2000-02) for <\/strong><\/em><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/jetaany.org\/magazine\">JQ<\/a><\/strong><em><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/jetaany.org\/magazine\"><strong> magazine<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Presented by <a href=\"http:\/\/playwrightsrealm.org\/\">The Playwrights Realm<\/a>, the drama <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cherrylanetheatre.org\/onstage\/crane-story\/\">Crane Story<\/a><\/em> stars <a href=\"http:\/\/angelalin.com\/\">Angela Lin<\/a> (a veteran of JET alum <a href=\"..\/?s=Randall+David+Cook\">Randall David Cook<\/a>\u2019s <em><a href=\"..\/library\/reviews\/randall-david-cooks-sake-with-the-haiku-geisha\/\">Sake with the Haiku Geisha<\/a><\/em>) as Cassis, a young Japanese American on an odyssey to rescue her brother&#8217;s soul from the land of the dead.<\/p>\n<p>Written by <a href=\"http:\/\/playwrightsrealm.org\/home\/meet-the-playwright\">Jen Silverman<\/a> and directed by Katherine Kovner, <em>Crane Story<\/em> runs through Oct. 1 at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cherrylanetheatre.org\/\">Cherry Lane Theatre<\/a> in New York\u2019s Greenwich Village. Here\u2019s what <strong>JQ<\/strong>\u2018s critics had to say at a Midtown diner after a recent performance.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Justin Tedaldi:<\/strong>\u00a0What were your thoughts about the production?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vlad Baranenko:<\/strong>\u00a0Given the limited resources that they have being Off-Broadway, they did a very good job with the imagery and the special effects.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JT:<\/strong>\u00a0I really liked the way the creative team put everything together with the scenery and the costumes, especially the sound effects. There\u2019s a raised wooden stage where most of the action happens, and at the very beginning they describe rain, but you see the rest of the cast drumming their fingers on the stage, which creates the illusion of falling rain. Very creative ways of getting around the limitations that come with being an Off-Broadway production.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:<\/strong>\u00a0I agree on that. The cast obviously remembered their lines really well. It didn\u2019t seem forced, actually; very natural. In that regard, I give them high marks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JT:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019m reading here that the actor who plays Ishida,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Louis_Ozawa_Changchien\">Louis Ozawa Changchien<\/a>, appeared with Adrien Brody, Topher Grace and Laurence Fishburne in the movie\u00a0<em>Predators<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:\u00a0<\/strong>He looks like someone who&#8217;s got some pretty good experience under his belt. He comes off as very authentic in the way he acts, and that\u2019s one of the first things that I noticed.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><strong>JT:<\/strong>\u00a0He\u2019s a much more seasoned actor here, definitely. He seems a bit older than the rest of the cast, but I want to give a shout-out to Angela Lin, who plays Cassis. She has an Emma Stone kind of quality, where she plays in between a teenager and a mature woman, so she walks this line between cynicism and a tender vulnerability to the things that happen. She expresses a lot with her eyes and face, and you can really see that from the audience.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:<\/strong>\u00a0The American character, Barret O\u2019Brien, who plays a vagabond\u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>JT:<\/strong>\u00a0He\u2019s a\u00a0<em>musician<\/em>, man.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:<\/strong>\u00a0(<em>Laughs<\/em>) I\u2019m sorry, I thought that was the exact same thing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JT:<\/strong>\u00a0One thing about this plot is that the playwright wants to peel away the layers, so the audience is trying to piece together the plot as it happens. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s always best for the drama, because at the end of the first act we were introduced to two new characters, including the musician, whose intent was purposely unclear, so you feel more frustrated than engaged by the story itself. Somehow, Lin\u2019s character enters the spirit world and is able to bring the younger self of someone back to life\u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:<\/strong> What do you suppose is the purpose?<\/p>\n<p><strong>JT:<\/strong>\u00a0We don\u2019t know any of this. And they somehow seem to have the ability to go back in time, too, but they don\u2019t explain this. As for the crane, the actress, Christine Toy Johnson, is on stage for virtually the entire play, observing the characters, but that never pays off.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:<\/strong> Yes, definitely, I couldn&#8217;t agree more. I was expecting for the connection to be more evident towards the end, but the second act closed without that realization.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JT:<\/strong>\u00a0There is a strong affinity for the Japanese culture in the dialogue. I think Silverman knows enough about it, like how Japanese people are indecisive and yes means no and all those things. That\u2019s very well observed, because the lead character is grappling with her own \u201chalf\u201d identity at the same time. And that\u2019s a tough thing to do when you\u2019re juggling the supernatural angle that you have here with a more realistic drama with family issues and cross cultural adjustments, with the characters trying to break through and get an idea of not only who their identities are, but also just where this thing is going story-wise.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:<\/strong>\u00a0The over-complication of the story did take away from its cohesiveness. I think the winner, if you want to make it a contest, is the production. I thought the sound and pre-recorded effects were spot-on\u2014everything was in tune and on cue, really impressive. As for the actors themselves, the delivery of lines was very fluid, and it was very believable.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JT:<\/strong>\u00a0I thought the performances in the second act were even stronger. They really found a rhythm.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:<\/strong>\u00a0That\u2019s what really stuck with me more than anything, how natural everything seemed.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JT:<\/strong>\u00a0You really believe the characters. One of the actors played a triple role for the same person, including an ethereal, transvestite version of himself.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:<\/strong>\u00a0I didn\u2019t fully get that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JT:\u00a0<\/strong>Me either, but I commend the fact that he was able to wear all these different hats. There\u2019s no way to explain it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019m very curious what they were trying to do with that, but he did a pretty good job.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JT:<\/strong>\u00a0The costumes were great, and the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bunraku\">bunraku<\/a>\u00a0parts with the ghost was also incredibly well done.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:<\/strong>\u00a0The puppets themselves looked very good, too. The spirit \u201ckeeper\u201d Skell, played by Susan Hyon, seemed very Japanese, too, with three or four people operating that thing at some point, and they were able to act in a cohesive manner and the parts where they spoke at the same time was spot-on, too. It\u2019s very impressive. It\u2019s a lot of lines to remember, right?<\/p>\n<p><strong>JT:<\/strong>\u00a0It is. It\u2019s not a very big cast, and a lot of the main players are almost always onstage.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:<\/strong>\u00a0The visual and the auditory aspects of the play were spot-on. The part with the rain where they put a little vent in the stage, that was very, very well done.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JT:<\/strong>\u00a0The dialogue is poetic at times, too, especially coming from the crane herself. Some of the lines felt a little forced, like when she said things like \u201ca dry bone whistling in the wind\u201d and \u201cthe mountains surround the fog.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:<\/strong>\u00a0I think her lines were probably my least favorite, and although I understand that her role was more of a narrator, I felt that they left a bit of a void.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JT:<\/strong>\u00a0A little of that goes a long way.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:<\/strong>\u00a0The role of her character, I think, didn\u2019t really stand out and achieve the intended effect.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JT:<\/strong>\u00a0They could have just had her in the beginning, in the prologue\u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:<\/strong>\u00a0 She would make an occasional appearance, but that\u2019s it. And then there\u2019s that scene where it seems like she goes to hell to make a deal with the record keeper\u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>JT:<\/strong>\u00a0I thought that would explain some things, but it raised more questions than it answered.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:<\/strong> Exactly, there seems to be very little correlation. It almost felt like there was really no reason to call the play\u00a0<em>Crane Story<\/em>, since the main plot didn\u2019t follow the theme of the <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Crane_Wife#The_story_of_The_Crane_Wife\">original folktale<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JT:<\/strong>\u00a0I think if there\u2019s one big theme here, it\u2019s love and loss. One of the ties is romantic, and then there\u2019s one that\u2019s familial. And then you have another romantic tie that develops later between two of the characters, but it\u2019s taken away almost as quickly as it began. Maybe that\u2019s what they\u2019re trying to express here, that love is temporary; I guess there\u2019s a lot of ways you can read into that. But I do like that they had a romance kindled in the second act.\u00a0 It would have been nice if they explored that more instead of falling back on the supernatural angle, which had already run its course by then.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:<\/strong> I think they tried to explain too much too quickly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JT:<\/strong>\u00a0In the end, for someone who\u2019s lived in Japan and has an interest in Japanese culture, theater and performing arts, it\u2019s definitely worth seeing because you get a lot of good visuals\u2014you get bunraku, kabuki style with the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lion_dance#Japanese_Lion\">shishi-mai<\/a>, you get all that stuff in there that you wouldn\u2019t easily be able to find here, even in New York. So that part is good. But the story, I think a lot of people will feel like they\u2019ve maybe seen this before or that it isn\u2019t strong enough on its own.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:<\/strong>\u00a0And the perception of Japan through the eyes of the foreigner that comes up quite a bit in the story, that\u2019s somebody who\u2019s lived in Japan could identify with, as well.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JT:<\/strong>\u00a0Even though the plot drifts in and out, it still has enough presence within the entire play to give it is own identity and character.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:<\/strong>\u00a0I think the play was made for people who have experienced Japan, because of the numerous references to Roppongi and Shinjuku and street musicians; if somebody hadn\u2019t been there, it really wouldn\u2019t have resonated with them. So I think Silverman did a really good job.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JT:<\/strong>\u00a0The musician guy even says, \u201cWhy are all Asian women crazy?\u201d, to which some gentleman in the audience\u2014it wasn\u2019t us\u2014laughed out very loud when he heard that, so I\u2019m sure that was some kind of mutual experience being shared.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:<\/strong>\u00a0Exactly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JT:<\/strong>\u00a0I would be interested in seeing future works from the playwright.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:<\/strong>\u00a0I know I said it before, but the technical crew deserves quite a bit of praise.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JT:<\/strong>\u00a0The fact that Silverman was able to take a very simple tale and weave it into a two-hour show that holds your interest is something; it\u2019s just that the execution is not as strong as the visuals and the technical excellence on display.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:<\/strong>\u00a0So, a story with unanswered questions; got a boost from very strong acting; and well-executed technical aspects.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JT:<\/strong>\u00a0Great visuals integrated seamlessly. Let\u2019s look forward to something similar by the same names in the future, whether it\u2019s Off-Broadway or beyond. Maybe they can revive\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Shogun:_The_Musical\"><em>Shogun: The Musical<\/em><\/a>. Anything else to add?<\/p>\n<p><strong>VB:\u00a0<\/strong>Yes. I\u2019m looking forward to my cheeseburger.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Crane Story<em>\u00a0plays at New York\u2019s Cherry Lane Theatre through Oct. 1. For more information, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/playwrightsrealm.org\/\">http:\/\/playwrightsrealm.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) and Vlad Baranenko (Saitama-ken, 2000-02) for JQ magazine. Presented by The Playwrights Realm, the drama Crane Story stars Angela Lin (a veteran of JET alum Randall David Cook\u2019s Sake with the Haiku Geisha) as Cassis, a young Japanese American on an odyssey to rescue her brother&#8217;s soul from the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,291,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articlejournalism","category-jq-magazine","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pkZ7m-5C5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21581"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21593,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21581\/revisions\/21593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}