Saturday Matinee

On my last trip to San Diego, I got amazing front row center seats to see the Haruki Murakami play “after the quake“, directed by Frank Galati. I recently read another Murakami book (South of the Border, West of the Sun), and was completely compelled by his ability to mesmerize a reader while telling an almost infathomable fantasy story. I especially thought Murakami’s ability to put into prose human longing, loneliness and an ache for relationships brilliantly. I was curious to see how this would all present itself in a theater setting, in a play. For the most part, it was successful.

“after the quake” is a story taking place right before and after the large earthquake in Kobe a few years ago. with characters involved, in dreams and in reality morphing together…themes of loneliness, unresolved loves, separations, terror and fear revolve in a wonderful mesh of dreamlike subtlety. Definitely not a linear storyline, as an audience member, you must allow Murakami to lead you through his story and he may answer some questions you have, and leave others to your imagination.

This play was successful in presenting Murakami’s rare ability to present human relationships in a non-cliche, surprisingly compelling way. Slow in the beginning, Murakami begins the story, with characters showing very little emotion and living seemingly ordinary lives. Slowly, as the story unfolds, the emotions bubble up through the story becoming more and more odd and fantasical.

In my mind, the one part where this play fell short was in the delicate balance of combining fantasy and reality onto the stage. It was a great attempt though….but something about it felt a bit forced. I dont’ know what it was yet, but I felt that the human relationships were very compelling on stage, while the fantasy about a super frog was a bit unbelievable at first, but grew on me as the play went on, but still I did not feel it was 100% successful in its jump (excuse the pun) onto the theater stage.

The actors were amazing. Andrew Pang, as the literature jock & ordinary businessman balanced the two extreme characters brilliantly. My favorite, Hanson Tse, was a quiet volcano, awaiting to erupt on stage, and his portrayal of a man timid about reaching for his dreams was quite riveting. This production is touring across the nation, so see if it is coming to your town. I know it’s part of the Berkeley Repertory Season later this year.