By Sheila Barth
BOX INFO: World premiere of Celine Song’s
1-1/2 hour play at American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.), appearing through
March 27, at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St., Harvard Square, Cambridge.
Tickets start at $25. americanrepertorytheater.org
While Celine Song’s new, two-act play is a fascinating foray into the world of little-known Korean women who spend most of their lives – and days – diving daily for seafood, the playwright needs to concentrate more on these women and less on her self-effacing fixation of writing about “white persons“ plays in Act II.
Song has a cultural treasure trove the public would appreciate, learning about her fascinating, multi-faceted genre. Director Sammi Cannold, leads a talented, creative team that ensures “Endlings” captures and captivates theatergoers’ attention. However, in Ms. Song’s attempts to be clever, pithy, and at times comedic, her second act strays too far from the tradition and lives of her primary topic, haenyeos, the sea women who harvest seafood in the ocean.
Other than sound designer Elisheba Ittoop’s battery of jarring noises and Bradley King’s moody lighting, Jason Sherwood’s set design is a phenomenal visual challenge. The ladies ascend and descend a mossy cliff, while below-stage panels open, revealing a water tank, enabling us to watch the women swim and float by. During their time off, the women relax in front of small house facades suspended from the ceiling that descend during appropriate scenes.
The fact that the number of these isolated, devoted women is dwindling and
they’re at risk of extinction is fascinating. We “white people” want to
know more. The play features three representative elderly women – a
septuagenarian, octogenarian and nonagenarian – who discourage their
descendants from continuing their legacy. There are about 4,000 haenyeos left
today, but their numbers are winnowing. The younger generation is disinterested
in continuing their craft.
Working off the Coast of Korean Island Man-Jae, Sook Ja (Jo Yang), is the
youngest of the trio. Go Min (Emily Kuroda), yearns for Hollywood, its glamor
and tinsel; and pragmatic, 96-year-old diver, Han Sol (Wai Ching Ho), warns her
offspring to stay far away from her craft. Besides wise cracks, resentment and
too-brief glimpses of each woman’s personality, tragedy is glossed over,
treated like an inevitable accident waiting to occur. Meanwhile, in Manhattan,
twentysomething Ha Young, Han Sol’s Korean-Canadian-Manhattan, NY-based
granddaughter (Jiehae Park), wonders whether she should write this play. She’s
married to a “white” husband, (Miles G. Jackson), who’s also a playwright.
He wears a large, “White Husband” placard around his neck. White Stage
Managers wear similar placards – Keith Michael Pinault, Matt DaSilva, Andy
Paterson, and Mark Mauriello – round out the cast.
