FOR ALL IT’S GIRTH
Sumo is a Japanese sport in which two bulky Japanese wrestlers clutch and grab at each other within a circular ring enclosed by bales of straw. The goal is to either eject the opponent from the ring or knock him on his back. The typical match runs a few seconds and rarely as long as a minute. The top sumo wrestlers are considered national heroes in Japan (think Michael Jordan in the U.S.A.).
The La Jolla Playhouse has commissioned Hawaiian playwright Lisa Sanaye Dring to write an original play simply called Sumo. The play’s site in an elite training center in Tokyo where we meet a group of Japanese men trying reach “makuuchi,” the highest division on the pyramid of sumo achievement, and ultimately become “yokozuna”– champion.
The play centers on Akio, an 18-year-old novice who enters the rigorous and disciplined world of sumo in search of fame and fortune. The fortune would come from wealthy sponsors who attend the six major tournaments held each year, their financial support urgently sought by all competitors. Akio is alone in life and seeks sumo as a way to give his existence meaning and purpose. Also working out in the training facility are a group of veteran sumo wrestlers, led by Mitsuo. who becomes a kind of mentor to the teenager.
As the play progresses, we learn about the strenuous training regimen, as well as the rivalries and personality clashes within the group. They live within an intensely male environment, with women even excluded as spectators at sumo tournaments. Sumo demands a strict mix of athleticism and obedience to rituals and customs that go back thousands of years into Japanese mythology and is definitely one of the world’s most demanding sports.
Local audiences understandably may struggle to absorb all of the playwright’s sumo material. The playbill does provide three pages of definitions and explanations about sumo and there is an informative two-page interview with Sanaye Dring that may help neophyte viewers, but audiences will have to do the best they can to soak up the rules and lore of sumo culture on the run.
The size of the actors is a problem, if understandable. In real life, sumo wrestlers generally weigh 300 pounds and more. They are mountains of flesh and the task of moving such bodies for even a few feet is daunting. A couple of the La Jolla performers approach the real-life weight requirements of sumo girth but overall, the viewers will need to adjust their imaginations.
Still, there is much to enjoy, especially in the intense silent scenes of wrestlers striving to displace their opponents with a mixture of strength and dexterity. The production design by Hana Kim brings to colorful life the traditional Japanese setting, especially with the reproductions of Japanese woodcuts. There are also outstanding visual contributions from Wilson Chin (scenic design), Fabian Obispo (sound design) Mariko Ohigashi (costume design), and Paul Whitaker (lighting design).
For a few rocking minutes, members of the ensemble broke into a very Western hip hop number that got the biggest reaction of the night from the large audience. It may not have been sumo as understood in Tokyo, but I loved it. The traditions of Japanese music, on the other hand, were thunderously served by composer Shih-Wei Wu who presided to great dramatic effect on the giant taiko drum high above the stage.
The cast is headed by Scott Keiji as the young Akio and David Shih as Mitsuo. Their colleagues did well, especially replicating the physical drama of the matches. That speaks well for the overall directing by Ralph B. Peña. All in all, an entertaining and informative foray into theater exotica.
photos by Rich Soublet Photography
Sumo
La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego (Regional Theater)
co-production with Ma-Yi Theater Company
2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla
Tues, Wed at 7:30; Thurs & Fri at 8; Sat at 2 & 8; Sun at 2 & 7
ends on October 22, 2023
for tickets ($25 – $64), call 858.550.1010 or visit La Jolla Playhouse
