Stage Review
'Beyond the Falls' bubbles with color

By Joseph T. Rozmiarek
Advertiser Theater Critic

Michio (Hermen Tesoro, Jr.), right, gets a mouthful from the koi fish (Cat Gonzaga) in HTY's "Beyond the Falls" production. Brad Goda "Beyond the Falls" Presented by Hono-lulu Theatre for Youth 10:45 a.m. today; and 9:15 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. Monday (all seats $4) 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. tomorrow, May 19 and May 26, McCoy Pavilion (tickets $10, $7.50, $5) 839-9885

The show is written by Gary Pak and directed by Mark Lutwak, but the production's charm comes from designer Joseph Dodd — who created the set, costumes and props that turn McCoy Pavilion at Ala Moana Park into a wonderful, magical world, where fish swim and a monster crayfish lurks in the murky deep.

Dodd has literally transformed the large, empty space into a series of terraced ponds that are essential to the action.

There's Middle Pond, where brightly colored young koi grow to maturity and practice the "air hopping" that may one day take them to the unseen promised land of the upper pond, where the water is crystal clear and food is abundant. Middle Pond is a bright blue circle where actors on in-line skates glide and weave like swimming fish, disappearing behind waterfalls of plastic sheeting that hint at higher water.

A series of rapids leads to Pond Down, a cluttered and filthy level filled with trash and garbage that is home to the monster crayfish, reputed to eat careless young koi. A lazy fish that simply goes along with the current could end up in Pond Down, but with determined effort could make its way back to Middle Pond.

Lowest of all is Pond Downest, entered by a sewer pipe — a fearsome place from which no one returns.

This wonderful land is filled with equally wonderful creatures. The koi are outfitted with safety pads and helmets, goggles, whiskers, gills and colorful dorsal fins that flow behind their fluid skating movements.

The crayfish is an eye-popping creation in a tailcoat crocheted from aluminum cans and a top hat crowned with umbrella ribs. He's covered with rusty kitchen utensils, snaps viciously with a pair of tongs and snacks on goop from a turkey baster.

With so much to look at, the story line itself becomes secondary — but Pak's theme carries a message that will resound with youngsters. There's everything in "Beyond the Falls" to delight a youth audience: imagination, color, spectacle, fascinating characters and an approachable story line that doesn't bludgeon or condescend. And all those ingredients succeed for an adult audience as well.