Onna No Honour
Humming with a joyous break to warm the night, Onna No Honour peers deep into the sense of understanding behind identity and reality. Naked with emotion and questions, it is a revealing exploration of what it means to be free and honest. Contains humour and karaoke.
Breaking into a dawn somewhere over Japan, Onna No Honour sets up Len (Peter Rasmussen) Anderson's situation. Stranded in the land of the rising sun on a personnel exchange with his bank back in Australia, Len has to come to terms with his conditions as he copes with life, love and customs of his new homeland away from home.
Len and his work colleague, Ryuchi (Kengo Hasuo), play off each other so easily that with the contrast between their ways and customs it's not hard to think they're in archetypical form. As they teach each other about their worlds they come to understand the very different ideals and start seeing things in a whole new light.
From the outside they start peering in and the longer they do, the more the entirety of Onna No Honour follows suit.
Tradition and the modern era clash on various occasions, most often in the bar and club settings. Yuko, Tani Yukiyoung, a feisty and carefree "modern girl," represents the departure of old Japan; times that Ryuchi holds steady with an iron grip. The truth behind their icy confrontations serve to warp the general tone of Onna No Honour as it dives and rises through the intermission.
Playing with the fervent beat of a chameleon's skin, Yutaka Izumihara takes up the post as the general "Everyman" in Japan. From bartender, stranger on the train and drunken karaoke singer, Izumihara throws himself entirely into each of his various cameos. Shining brighter than most of the Australian Idols, moments at the microphone show ever more apparent the depth at which this actor can truly lose himself. His stunning command of the mike puts the rest of the cast to shame.
Plucking out incidental music all night long, Shoko Ono manages to turn the often hectic mood with a deft twang of the koto on stage. Mood setting is complete with lighting production from Bernie Tan as the pulses and subtle exclamation marks of the performance are punctuated with the sharp execution of lights.
There are moments where jokes feel heavy and dead. These are for the most part on the side of the English and very far in between. Japanese asides are lost on those without bilingual ears. Most of the weight taken up with examinations into relationships, dining and personal honesty.
Though the first half of Onna No Honour plays on jovial remarks and riffs all around on the foibles of translation and miscommunication, it's the darker turn of the second that really hammers a deeper message. From carefree laughs to shadowy and questionable undertones, there is a marked awkwardness as the light slowly fades from view on each passing minute.
Left in its wake are burning questions concerning reality and honesty.
Onna No Honour is playing at Darlinghurst Theatre in Sydney, until 3rd September, 2005.
Soon Van
Published August 2005 at The Program - NSW Stage reviews
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