Reviewed
by Michael J. Opperman
After the Quake is a curious work, an impossibly
delightful meditation on disaster and our powerlessness in its wake. First
staged at the Steppenwolf Theater Company several years ago, the play is an adaptation (by Frank
Galati) of two
short stories from Haruki Murakami's collection of the same name. Written after the 1995
earthquake that devastated the Japanese city of Kobe, the collection explores
the capacity and limitations of storytelling. Galati chose two of Murakami's
stories for his elegant chimera, blending the prosaic and the fantastic.
The
Walking Shadows Theatre Company's staging of this regional premier is spare, amounting to
little more than shoji screens and a platform on legs that is raised and
lowered to suggest a bed or table. Steve Kath's minimalist set emphasizes the
interactions of the actors - and the inherent weirdness of Murakami's vision.
The
lights come up on a man alleviating the night terrors of a young girl with the
story of a honey bear that can read, talk and count money. Junpei (Eric
Sharp), our
earnest storyteller, is still in love with the young girl's mother, who married
(and later divorced) his best friend years before. Trundled off to bed by her
mother, Sala (Natalie Tran) briefly sleeps peacefully before being visited again by
'the earthquake man' threatening to put her in a box. Sharp and Katie Miller, who plays Sala's mother,
adeptly portray the attraction and tenuous intimacy between the two. Their eyes
meet in unselfconscious concern over the wellbeing of Sala.
Twined
with this narrative is the story of Katagiri (Kurt Kwan), a salaryman visited by a frog
(Brant Miller)
looking for help to do battle with "Worm" to save Tokyo from an
earthquake. Decked out in a tailored gabardine suit, bowler and four-fingered
green gloves, Frog is a courageous dandy quoting Conrad, Neitzche, Dostoyevsky,
and expressing horror at Katagari's ignorance of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina.
In
alternating currents, we learn about the beginning of Junpei's friendship with
Takatsuki, also performed by Kwan, and Sayoko (Bradley); his burgeoning love
for Sayoko; and his hesitation that allows Takatsuki to court her first. And,
imbued with a certain charm by Miller, it was hard not to anticipate Frog's
visits to Katagiri. Neither Murakami nor Galati allow for easy allegory or
simple descent into fable. Amy Rummenie's direction of the play keeps the valences
evocative, meaningful and strange.
In
an expert choreography of narration, exposition is provided alternatively by
several characters who pick up and drop off, hitting multiple marks on the
stage and lending the production a distinctive momentum.
We're
fortunate to have such excellent and committed theater in the cities. Between
smaller itinerant companies putting on compelling productions where they can
secure stage to larger powerhouses with the means to stage breathtaking epics, there
is no paucity of choice. But it is the rare play that closes in a manner that
is both surprising and inevitable, that is uplifting while still remaining
provocative. I can't recommend The Walking Shadow Theatre Company's production
of After the Quake enough.