Posted on: Tuesday, November 20, 2001

Stage Review
Dreary protagonist, choppy pace

By Joseph Rozmiarek
Advertiser Theater Critic

'The Wash' • 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays; 4 p.m. Sundays through Dec. 2 (no show on Thanksgiving) • Manoa Valley Theatre • $25, $10 ($5 discount for seniors and military), 988-6131

"The Wash," by Philip Kan Gotanda, is built around a central character who is difficult to like.

Nobu Matsumoto is distant, cold, and withdrawn — a result of his own pride, stubbornness and shame. He also suffers with a Japanese American life that failed to take root after having been stalled in an internment camp during World War II. There seems to have been no precipitating incident — Nobu simply failed to thrive.

Now a retired store clerk with two grown daughters, he endures a new complication. His wife of 42 years has moved out, finally deciding she will no longer live with a man who calls her "stupid." Curiously, she still returns each week to collect his laundry.

The script is divided into several short scenes, some consisting only of two lines of dialogue and many ending abruptly with words hanging in the air. This makes for halting and choppy action and a sense that the story continues to sputter without reaching full ignition.

Worse, the central puzzle does not engage the audience. We fail to care about Nobu. We are not intrigued by what makes him tick so erratically.

It's fairly clear that the problem is a script failure and not a shortfall by director Lyn Ackerman or by Allan Okubo, who plays this difficult central role. Okubo sustains several difficult scenes, controlling emotion and neatly etching the outlines of Nobu's inner struggle. But the character allows for no warmth and suffers accordingly.

Florence Chang is carefully tentative as Nobu's wife, while Joy Minaai and Jackie Jordan are the still-shell-shocked daughters that survived growing up in a difficult household.

Character warmth comes from the supporting roles. Dann Seki is forthright and uncomplicated as the wife's new boyfriend, Nan Asuncion is fun as the noisy beautician, and Dennis Ihara entertains as the Hawaiian-Japanese cook. Sue Shiroma Nada completes the cast as the new woman in Nobu's life.

The set by Joseph Dodd is appropriately cold, and has the pared down, impersonal look of an airport waiting area.