Manoa Valley Theatre play gives actor a scare

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor

Annie MacLachlan and Peter Kamealoha Clark star in the Hawai'i premiere of Gardner McKay's "Sea Marks," which will be presented Monday and Tuesday at Manoa Valley Theatre. 'Sea Marks' A drama by Gardner McKay, produced by Celebrate Hawai'i 7:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday Manoa Valley Theatre $15 988-6131, 732-1147

It plays two nights, Monday and Tuesday, at Manoa Valley Theatre.

"It's the dialect," said Clark, who left Hawai'i for London eight years ago — and sort of stayed on — to pursue an acting career, returning home only for quick visits. "I went around asking questions about the right sound. I called an Irish actor friend in London, who asked me to send a copy of the script; but (the friend) is not from the same area west of Ireland but had friends who came from that place. So he taped the dialogue."

There was some question, too, on the proper way to pronounce the name of the character, Colm Primpose, said Clark: Like Cohlm, with an "oh" sound; or Collum, with two syllables.

Clark was visiting family in Denver over the holidays when he heard that Gaye Glazer, a Honolulan, was eager to produce the play in its Hawai'i premiere, but unfortunately couldn't do it while McKay was still living. McKay died in November.

"It's a love story, and I'm a sucker for love stories," Clark said about Colm, who meets a woman (played by Annie MacLachlan) only once but courts her by mail, unaware that she eventually publishes a book of excerpts from his letters.

In preparing for the show, he recalled an interview by the noted award-winning actress, Dame Judi Dench, who has said she never does a role unless the part scares her. "This part scares me," he said, mostly because of the challenge of getting the accent down pat.

Clark has excelled on the local and London stage. Most recently, he appeared as the fireman in the European premiere of David Mamet's "Lakeboat" in London; he has also graced the cast of "Of Mice and Men," "In the Jungle of Cities," "The London Merchant," "Brazilian Women" and "Spector."

His Hawai'i credits from the distant past include the title roles in "King Lear" and "Macbeth," and such plays as "Shadowland," "The Foreigner," "A Man for All Seasons" and "Twelfth Night."

"This is still my home," he insisted. "I went to London to house-sit for an actor friend of mine, Nick Devero, (who) had a chance to go to Hollywood for a year, but stayed."

Of the two-character work being directed by Joyce Maltby, Clark said: "It started to be a reading, but it was our decision to memorize lines, to do it as a play; costumes will be suggested, but it's not a full-on production."

He's confident about the dramatic prospects of the work, which the Washington Post said is a "livelier and more absorbing production than some with 10 times as many characters and plot complications." The New York Times praised the "abundant humor, surprisingly honest humor, that grows between two impossible partners."

"But I'm still scared ... I think I'd be worried if I weren't scared," said Clark.