Navigating post-war burdens with deftness in...
Transcript of Navigating post-war burdens with deftness in...
6/7/2017 Navigating post-war burdens with deftness in 'Blues' | The Daily Californian
http://www.dailycal.org/2014/03/09/navigating-post-war-burdens-deftness-blues/ 1/3
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
BY MICHAEL ROSEN | SENIOR STAFF LAST UPDATED MARCH 10, 2014
THEATER SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014
RELATED POSTS
Activism plays role in student-runproduction of Bertolt Brecht’splays
“Gidion’s Knot” tangled withemotion at Aurora
BareStage play spells its way tolaughter
Navigating postwar burdens with deftness in ‘Blues’
After the War Blues
It had certainly been a long, long time since Chet Monkawa
actually felt lucky. At a lottery earlier that day, he and Earl
Worthing — a resident from the San Francisco boarding house
Monkawa runs — entered a raffle for a modern American
phenomenon: a brand-new television. Miraculously, they had
won, but not without some help. Because of their ethnicities —
Monkawa being Japanese and Worthing being black — the raffle
liaison refused to sell them a ticket. An Italian was game to act as
their surrogate, and soon Monkawa, Worthing and the other half-
dozen residents of the boarding house were excitedly crowded
around the tiny little box, ready to watch the future unfold.
The year is 1948, and the second scene in the UC Berkeley
Department of Theater, Dance and Performance Studies’
beautifully staged and impressively acted show “After The War
Blues” — written by Philip Kan Gotanda and performed at
Zellerbach Playhouse — makes it clear the United States is doing
its best to move on from World War II and into a tantalizing
tomorrow. It also shows the process isn’t going so smoothly. The
scars from the war remain in the national consciousness.
Monkawa, a second-generation Japanese American, faces
discrimination daily. A visitor yells “Jap” in his face. Monkawa
never really feels at home.
The difficulties of life as an outsider — which, to some extent,
describes every resident of Monkawa’s boarding house — in
postwar America comprise much of the first act of the show. Olga
(Schuyler Girion), a first-generation Russian immigrant, struggles
to find her place in a not-so-dreamy America. Mr. Oji (Tony Jin),
a Japanese accountant, cannot find a woman that will take him
seriously.
Eventually, Olga and Mr. Oji become good friends and help
ameliorate each other’s problems. Jin and Girion’s shared scenes
are some of the show’s lightest and funniest, but the underlying
idea — that one finds contentedness not from America the
country, but from those who live within it — is something the play
wrestles with throughout the second act.
CRIME & COURTS2-year-old allegedly fed methin People’s Park
CRIME & COURTSCampus, regents amongdefendants sued for morethan $23M for handling ofYiannopoulos protests
CRIME & COURTSGhost Ship employeesarrested on 36 counts ofalleged manslaughter
CAMPUSNo Cal sports cut yet,athletics task force says
THE DAILY CLOGProof Berkeley is Los Angelesin disguise
STATECA State Senate passes bill tocreate single-payerhealthcare system
A&ENews Sports Arts Opinion Blogs Multimedia Weekender Featured
ABOUTDONATEAPPLYCLASSIFIEDSADVERTISEDAILY DEAL
34
Like
Tweet
Comment
0
4 friends like this
The Daily Californian36K likesLike Page
MOST POPULAR MOST RECENT
MUSIC FILM & TELEVISION FASHION THEATER VISUAL ART VIDEO GAMES LITERATURE VOICES COLUMNS BEST OF BERKELEY CULTURE SHOT
ADVERTISEMENT
6/7/2017 Navigating post-war burdens with deftness in 'Blues' | The Daily Californian
http://www.dailycal.org/2014/03/09/navigating-post-war-burdens-deftness-blues/ 2/3
BareStage founder returns tocampus with one-man show
Jin and Girion are great as occasional comic relief, but the
strongest performances in the show come from Intae Kim and
Rodney Witherspoon, playing Monkawa and Worthing,
respectively. Kim is the steadying force of the show. He’s
burdened with both the most stage time and the widest range of
circumstances and handles the challenges with apparent ease.
Worthing booms and grins, injecting energy and life into every
scene he plays while also carrying a palpable sense of truth in his
heavier scenes. You can feel the blues in each of their characters,
even at their emotional highs.
The acting is strong, but what’s most impressive about “After The War Blues” is its visual elements.
Throughout the show, the main plotline ceases, and a singular trumpet player is given a spotlight at
the top of the enormous two-story set. Sometimes, he’s lit up in an eerie red light while a scat singer
stands on the lower level, crooning hauntingly from below. The last scene before the end of the first
act is the most noteworthy. It positions Monkawa center stage dancing with his lover, while two
other residents flank the couple, pensively staring out at the world wondering where to go next. The
blocking and the lighting meld into one another, painting a wonderfully melancholic image before
the lights rise up for intermission.
Wonderful melancholy permeates every aspect of the show, from the actions of the characters to the
arrangement of the living room. The script and direction are meticulously crafted, and the cadre of
student actors execute both to an admirable degree.
Contact Michael Rosen at [email protected].
Please keep our community civil. Comments should remain on topic and be respectful. Read our full comment policy
0 Comments The Daily Californian Login1
Share⤤ Sort by Best
Start the discussion…
Be the first to comment.
Subscribe✉ Add Disqus to your siteAdd DisqusAddd Privacy�
Recommend
Be the first of your friends to like this
Daily Cal Arts & Entert…1.5K likesLike Page
Report ad
Sponsored
Buy Tickets
Ad closed by
Stop seeing this ad
Why this ad?
We'll try not to show that ad againAd closed by
6/7/2017 Navigating post-war burdens with deftness in 'Blues' | The Daily Californian
http://www.dailycal.org/2014/03/09/navigating-post-war-burdens-deftness-blues/ 3/3
NEWS
ASUCCampusCityCrime & CourtsObituaryResearch &Ideas2017 ASUCelectionsUCNotes from theField
Men’s
BaseballBasketballCrewCross CountryFootballGolfGymnasticsRugbySoccerSwimTennisWater Polo
Women’s
BasketballCrewField HockeyGolfGymnasticsLacrosseSoftballSoccerSwimTennisTrack & FieldVolleyballWater Polo
SPORTS A&E
ColumnsFilm &TelevisionLiteratureMusicTheaterVisual ArtComedy
OPINION
EditorialsOp-EdsLetters to theEditorColumnsEditorialCartoonsThe SoapboxSex on Tuesday
MULTIMEDIA
ArtsGraphicsNewsOpinionSports
FEATURED
Editor’s PicksAwardsSpecial IssuesThe WeekenderGamedayBest of BerkeleyDaily Cal ArchiveEditors’ Blog
BLOGS
The Daily ClogEating BerkeleyTravelA&EBear BytesStrikeoutPhoto tumblr
DONATEWE'RE AN INDEPENDENT, STUDENT-RUN NEWSROOM. MAKE A DONATION TO SUPPORT OUR COVERAGE.
RELATED A&ESorry, no related stories were found.
MOST RECENT A&E‘Cien años con Juan Rulfo’ traces son’s
journey to rediscover his father
UC Berkeley MFA graduates exhibit
innovative explorations of identity, change at
BAMPFA
Roger Waters retreads familiar societal,
political grounds with still-enjoyable release
‘Is This the Life We Really Want?’
Bay Area Book Festival engages public with
theme of literary activism
‘House of Cards’ season 5 tense with latent
energy
Report ad
New Rule for California DriversCalifornia Drivers With No Tickets In 3 Years Are In For A Big
Surprise
Learn More
Sponsored by Comparisons.org
After the War Blues, Department of Theater Dance and Performance Studies, Philip Kan Gotanda, SchulyerGirion, Tony Jin, Zellerbach Playhouse
ADVERTISING
Copyright © 2017 The Daily Californian, The Independent Berkeley Student Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy. Mobile site.
Live Blues
Blues Before
AdChoices
Great Blues
Blues You
AdChoices