Theater Review: Cowboy versus Samurai

by Dennis Sloan of John Garcia's The Column

Michael Golaco's Cowboy vs. Samurai appears at WaterTower Theatre's Out of the Loop Fringe Festival this week, courtesy of Diwa Theatre Company.

The script is generally entertaining and has some interesting things to say about ethnic identity in America. Though Diwa's production needs work in some areas, it is an earnest attempt from a new company focusing specifically on providing Asian American theatre to the DFW area.

Golamco's humorous script explores the lives of three Asian Americans living in a small Wyoming town. When Korean Veronica (Monalisa Amidar) arrives to fill a local teaching position, Chester (Chester Gayao) and Travis (Tung Tran), the only two Asians in town until then, rejoice in increasing their minority population and entertain romantic hopes. When Veronica takes more of an interest in Del (Austin Rucker), a local Caucasian, Travis must play Cyrano on Del's behalf. Along the way, each of the three must confront a number of issues dealing not only with ethnicity, but with associated feelings of pride and shame as well.

Amidar also directs the play and does a fair enough job. Small companies participating in Out of the Loop would do well to remember that WaterTower's cavernous main stage space can easily swallow a small scale show. With the exception of Gayao (whose character is rather brusque and militant), the actors play a little too internally for the space and are difficult to hear. Tran and Amidar have a nice chemistry, but both seem to fall out of the action from time to time. Rucker does a fine job reading Golaco's transitional monologues, but they're delivered less surrealistically than the lighting Rucker is given. Gayao's performance is a standout, and not just because of better projection; he stays constantly in the play with a fully developed and utterly believable (though zany) characterization – he also provides a good many laughs.

Amidar paces the play a bit too slowly but, with the exception a few awkward moments, she does a fair job with staging. The shoestring set design is well realized and the sound design lends life to the production (though the use of sound in the transitions is a little inconsistent). The production has its flaws, but it signals at least an interest in exploring the Asian American cannon. Amidar, who is founder and Artistic Director of Diwa, has a good grasp of the issues at hand. With any luck, a little more time and experience will allow her to improve overall production quality and bring Asian American theatre further in to the DFW mainstream theatre scene.

2009 Out of the Loop Fringe Festival passes, which include one admission to each festival event, are currently available for $60 by calling the WaterTower Theatre Box Office at972-450-6232. Single tickets can be purchased online or by calling 972-450-6232. Click the following for a complete festival schedule.