Vengeful Sword brings Kabuki to UH

by Doyle Moeller

courtesy KENNEDY THEATRE

Meg Thiel as Manno (the conniving teahouse madam) and James Schirmer as Fukuoka Mitsugi (the dutiful samurai) in the Kabuki production of "The Vengeful Sword" at UHM's Kennedy Theatrer. 

courtesy KENNEDY THEATRE

A night at a Kabuki show is the epitome of Japanese class, a celebration of culture, history, and tradition. Usually based on a historical event, Kabuki is a highly stylized form of theatre sometimes referred to as ‘avant garde’ or bizarre, the slow speech and plot development can sometimes leave some viewers wondering when it will end.

Regardless of what you think of Kabuki, Hawai’i is the only place outside of Japan to lay claim to a Kabuki tradition. Troupes first came to the islands to entertain migrant workers in 1893, and the University of Hawai’i has been producing Kabuki since 1924.

The Vengeful Sword (or in the original Japanese: Ise Ondo Koi no Netaba) is built around a fateful night in a teahouse in Furuichi, specifically the Abura Teahouse. on a summer night in 1796, a possibly intoxicated, and certainly jealous Magofuku Itsuki (name changed to Fukuoka Mitsugi in the play) pulled his sword in the teahouse, killing three and injuring six.

courtesy KENNEDY THEATRE

James Schirmer (top) plays Fukuoka Mitsugi while Murray Husted (below) plays the role of his rival, Aidamiya Kitaroku in the UHM Kennedy Theatre production of "The Vengeful Sword."

Director Julie A. Iezzi sought to recreate the atmosphere of a Japanese Kabuki performance, with “audience hawkers” (listed as such in the cast list) selling Tenugui (towels with wood block prints) and Chirashi (prints on broadsheet) in the hose before the start of the show, with proceeds from their sales going to the Red Cross Fund for Japan Relief. These hawkers, in addition to selling their wares, held conversations for the benefit of the audience and performed short skits. 

Once the actual show starts, and first-timers get used to the stylistic, rhythmic speech which includes speaking to a slow beat and with great variation in pitch and tone, it reveals a simple but well told story of a family heirloom, a few compelling characters, and even a few surprises foreshadowed by a close inspection of the show’s program.

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Catch the Vengeful Swordat Kennedy Theatre on April  21, 22 and 23 at 8pm, and April 24 at 2pm. For tickets or more information, call the Kennedy Theatre ticket office at 956-7655 or visit their website at http://www.hawaii.edu/theatre/.

Eat The Street For Japan

by Maria Kanai
photos by Rie Miyoshi

Last week my photographer Rie Miyoshi and I attended the third Eat The Street, a lunch wagon rally event organized by Poni Askew of Streetgrindz.com. This month, the event was for a cause. In light of the terrible earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, the lunch wagons donated either a portion or all of their proceeds to the American Red Cross to aid relief efforts. It was an awesome way for people to help out a recovering country while enjoying some delicious street food. Here's how it went!

There were some changes from the last ETS in February. First of all, it was even bigger! 32 lunch wagons instead of last month's 26. Trash cans were set up in the middle, tables were set up for easy eating, and the lines actually were fairly short…except for Gogi's Korean Tacos truck! As usual, this was a crowd favorite.

This was another thing that was different! Local artists Lightsleepers worked on a beautiful, Japan-themed painting on twelve canvases that were to be auctioned off, the money once again being donated to the American Red Cross.

The first truck we went to was Shogunai Tacos. Most of the lunch trucks had a Japan-themed dish, and I got Shogunai's Osaka Jo. It was delicious, with the perfect fusion of Mexican and Japanese. The ginger pork was flavored nicely with the shoyu and lemon, and I loved the furikake and bean sprouts. It was actually really filling at $6.50, and my friend and I split one between the two of us.

The biggest surprise of the night? The line at Melt was actually manageable, and I got to try out their famous sandwiches for the first time! I think the lines were short because of their limited menu; Japanese beef curry, their famous tomato soup, and just one Melt sandwich, which was a Kabocha and Bacon melt.

You can see the kabocha (pumpkin) covered with delicious Gouda cheese. The bread was perfectly toasted with a nice crunch, and the cheese, well, was melting in my mouth. It certainly lived up to its hype. However, I did think $9 was a little pricey...

Then I ran into Poni Askew herself! Although she was busy running around organizing everything, she was able to take some time to answer some question. She let me know that she plans on holding these events at the last Friday of every month. As for the changes, she is going to take them slow. "We want to ease into the momentum, and not change too much at once."

We wanted something sweet, and we had loved the icecream at Aloha Ice Cream Tricycle. We got the watermelon icecream this time, for $4. Once again, the cookie crust at the bottom did it for me. I'm usually not a big fruit-flavored-icecream fan, but there were "chocolate" seeds for my chocolate fix.

SOUL Patrol's very own Chef Sean Priester! They were cooking food right outside the truck. SOUL's Japan themed dish was togarashi-spiced catfish with Japanese cucumber relish.

We got the Mexican paella for $7 at Camille's on Wheels, just to take a break from the tacos. The rice was filled with plenty of shrimp, chicken, and shichimi! It was just the right amount of spicy, and the different meats and seafoods were perfectly flavored.

Me and Onopops' Mexican Chocolate. It had an interesting tangy flavor to it that I wasn't quite used to. The chocolate is grown in Hawaii, and I bought the popsicle for $3. I just wasn't used to the strong aftertaste, kind of bitter and very thick, so this wasn't my favorite, even though I look very happy.

Over $7200 was raised for Japan, from a combination of food sales from the lunch wagons and separate donations. Once again, this was the biggest Eat The Street yet. At least 3500 people showed up to eat and participate to help a nation in need, making it an unforgettable night. Keep a lookout for the next event, which is planned to be held on the last Friday of April!

Food Fests!

by Chris Mikesell

If you're looking to head out for some good grinds, this week might just be the week for you!

courtesy streetgrindz.com

First off, as reported earlier this week by our fabulous Maria Kanai, Eat The Street - that monthly mobile food fest that does for food what First Friday does for art - is back TONIGHT from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at 555 South Street. This month, ETS is taking donations to help the victims of the recent Japanese earthquake and tsunami through the Hawaii chapter of the American Red Cross, and some vendors like Hank's Haute Dogs will be donating their proceeds to the relief efforts as well!

So far the event has attracted 32 participating vendors, including:

•  Zarie's Mediterranean Cuisine 
•  Sweet Lealani Treats 
•  Elena's Home of Finest Filipino Foods 
•  T.A.S.T.E.  Tasty Asian Style Taco Eatery 
•  Xtreme Tacos 
•  Fairycakes 
•  Cholos Homestyle Mexican 
•  Ed Catering / Four Caterers 
•  Why'z  
•  Grindz Unlimited D.B.A. Local Stop 
•  Zsoli's Chimney Cake Hawaii 
•  JUS' RIGHT KETTLE CORN POPCORN 
•  Malia's Pasteles and Poke 
•  Summer's LavaDogs 
•  Gogi 
•  Onopops 
•  BAJA STYLE MEXICAN FOOD 
•  Simply Ono 
•  Hawaii Hotdogs 
•  Big Local Tita Services 
•  Melt 
•  Jawaiian Irie Jerk 
•  DIXIE GRILL 
•  Camille's on Wheels 
•  Tacos Vicente 
•  Aloha Ice Cream Tricycle 
•  Hula Shrimp Co 
•  Soul Patrol 
•  Lickety Split 
•  Stacy's LauLau
•  Shogunai Tacos

(That's the list from Streetgrindz.com as of this morning, but they're saying it could be updated with more!) 

If, however, you're looking for something a bit closer to campus, March's Taste of Manoa food fest is coming back on Friday, April 1 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Campus Center.  Taste of Manoa was originally scheduled for March 11th, but it was put on hold thanks to the tsunami warnings. 

As usual, there's a 5 script limit per person and scripts are on sale for $1 each, but be advised: if this one is anything like previous Taste of Manoa events you are going to want to get yourself in line EARLY and bring some kind of tray-like device for all the tasting plates you're going to want to get.