Qui Nguyen’s Soul Samurai is either part homage to 1970s samurai flicks, part homage to blaxploitation films of the same era, a darker version of Escape from New York, an echo of Warriors, a dark Buffy the Vampire Slayer set in a post-apocalyptic New York City, or an updated love story similar to Romeo and Juliet. And if you think that’s a confusing olio, it’s only because describing the experience of watching this play is harder than actually watching it.
In the small HERE Arts Center theatre, on a dismal late Sunday afternoon, about fifty people entered the intimate, 100-seat theatre and were transported—via a minimalist stage, some low-key animation, and five incredibly athletic actors—into New York City after the fall, when the boroughs are each ruled by their own gang leader/warlord. In this dark future, steel is strength, gang colors are family affiliations, and the Longtooth gang of Brooklyn are a crew not to be crossed. Dewdrop (the tiny Maureen Sebastian) is on a mission to avenge her murdered lover, but to get there, she’ll have to learn the skills of a samurai, convince Grandmaster Mack (Jon Hoche), the ruler of Manhattan and owner of the Brooklyn Bridge, to let her cross into Brooklyn to seek out and kill Boss 2K (Sheldon Best), the head of the Longtooths. She relents only long enough to allow her sidekick, the played-for-comic-relief Cert (Paco Tolson) to come with her. And while her mission is straight-forward, and her sword is strong, fighting two-handed across Brooklyn and back, against a seemingly endless stream of enemies, is not a mission with a high probability of success. And when they run into Lady Snowflake (Bonnie Sherman), failure looks almost certain. But there are twists and turns aplenty, and Dewdrop’s relationship with Sally December may last longer than either of them expected. [Photo at left: Cert (Paco Tolson), Dewdrop (Maureen Sebastian), and Pastor (Jon Hoche).]
August 2020