SUMO
by Lisa Sanaye Dring
Directed by Ralph B. Peña
Public Theatre
Reviewed by David Spencer
As they sing in Pacific Overtures, “let the pupil show the master.” That’s the trajectory followed at the Public Theatre in Sumo, by Lisa Sanaye Dring. Set in present-day Japan, it’s about 18-year-old Akio (Scott Keiji Takeda) who aspires to be a championship Sumo wrestler. Starting as an apprentice in Tokyo’s top training facility, he is grudgingly given a kind of acceptance by superstar wrestler Mitsuo (David Shih), but it is by no means a gesture of kindness and barely qualifies as tolerance. Akio must earn every inch of everything he gets, gradually getting acceptance from veteran wrestlers and making his way into their ranks. And at length into real competition. And the consequences of success on comradeship and life in general.
There’s a sense in which Sumo is terribly familiar. Just about every famous classroom or group-shared-objective drama has similar dynamics: The innocent becoming seasoned as the curmudgeonly mentor’s tough exterior is seen to conceal deeper imperfections. The troubled relationships among colleagues, things embraced, things suppressed, emotional resonance and fallout. Those who remain. Those who disappear.
But, as is often the case, treatment is everything, and here treatment is inextricably entwined with milieu. As Akio gets his education, we’re educated too; indoctrinated, really. And it’s always fascinating. No easy trick to pull off.
Well cast, well-acted, well directed (Ralph S. Peña), and buttressed by a production team having a tastefully apportioned field day with the looks and sounds of the storytelling universe, Sumo is one of the season’s most pleasant surprises. And I would not be surprised to see it move on past its limited engagement.