STAGE REVIEW
Japanese tales will delight children

By Joseph T. Rozmiarek
Advertiser Theater Critic

•	'Wondrous Tales of Old Japan' 4:30, 7:30 p.m. Saturdays through March 2; 8 p.m. benefit performance March 1 Tenney Theatre, St. Andrew's Cathedral $10-$5; benefit admission, at $40, includes a reception with Japanese food and sake. 839-9885

So it's nice to report that the initial laughter that greets the singsong intonation at the start of the Kabuki staging of "Wondrous Tales of Old Japan," soon gives way to ooohs and aaahs generated by the performance's traditional staging techniques.

It's also gratifying to see the return visit of another Hawai'i son, David Furumoto, who wrote and directs the play for the Honolulu Theatre for Youth. Audiences will remember him primarily as an actor for HTY. He's now teaching in the Midwest, where this show premiered in 1998.

After a production in Los Angles, "Wondrous Tales" is beginning a local engagement for Hawai'i schools.

The Kabuki style is filled with ancient traditions of voice, movement, and stylized staging. HTY company actors (Monica Cho, Squire Coldwell, Cynthia See, Shen Sugai, and Junior Tesoro) play a multitude of character roles and alternate as accompanist and narrator for the three stories that are contained under a collective title.

In the first tale, a young fisherman, Urashimataro, is rewarded for saving a stranded turtle. He is carried to an underwater kingdom, where he is entertained by a beautiful princess. But after four days, he becomes homesick and is allowed to return home. The princess gives him a box that will bring him back to her kingdom, but warns him never to open it. Back on land, he learns that he has been absent for 400 years, and opening the box causes him to age instantly into a fragile mummy. Costumes designed by Lydia Tanji for the Los Angeles production make the turtle and the princess glow with layers of colorful brocade and fringe. Urashimataro's instant aging happens with the help of a bearded mask and Coldwell's telegraphic body language.

In the second story, a young woodcutter watches his adoptive father die at the hands of the Snow Woman, but his life is spared when he promises never to tell anyone of the event. Later, he marries a beautiful woman and begins his own family. But when he tells his wife the forbidden story, she is transformed into the Snow Woman herself, who exacts dire punishment. The young audience is especially awed by the huge, billowing white sheet that stagehands unfurl to hide and sweep away the figures of the actors.

The last tale is that of Momotaro, the peach boy, given as a reward to an old couple. Here, the fun comes from watching Sugai being joined by a dog (Coldwell), a monkey (Cho) and a pheasant (Tesoro), to do battle with an evil ogre (See). With sound accompaniment designed by Kenny Endo, the costumes and the stage conventions never fail to charm.

A traditional set design by Joseph Dodd features translucent panels, colored lanterns and rapidly moving curtains.

The production runs a bit more than an hour and is recommended for audiences from kindergarten through fifth grade.