Ma-Yi Theater Company, La Jolla Playhouse, and The Public Theater's co-production of Sumo 相扑 officially opened its Off-Broadway premiere run at the Public's Anspacher Theater March 5, and the reviews are rolling in. The production, which began previews February 20, will continue through March 30.
Centering on an elite Sumo training facility in Tokyo, Lisa Sanaye
Dring's play follows six men as they practice, eat, love, play, and
ultimately fight.
The cast features Kris Bona as Kannushi 2, Red Concepción as Fumio, Michael Hisamoto as So, Ahmad Kamal as Ren, Earl T. Kim as Shinta, David Shih as Mitsuo, Scott Keiji Takeda as Akio, Paco Tolson as Kannushi 1, and Viet Vo as Kannushi 3, with live taiko drumming by Shih-Wei Wu. Understudies Akira Fukui, Hank Lin, and Haowen Luo 罗浩闻 round out the company.
Read the reviews below.
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半岛体育 will continue to update this list as reviews come in.
READ: For Its Actors, the New Play SUMO Is a Showcase of 'Beautiful, Powerful Fat Bodies'
The work made its world premiere at California's La Jolla Playhouse
in 2023. Bona, Hisamoto, Kim, Takeda, Vo, and Wu are all reprising their
performances from the earlier bow.
Obie winner Ralph B. Pe?a is at the helm for the New York premiere
after staging the world premiere, and has reassembled his full creative
team from the California run, including scenic designer Wilson Chin,
costume designer Mariko Ohigashi, lighting designer Paul Whitaker, sound
designer and composer Fabian Obispo, hair and wig designer Alberto
"Albee" Alvarado, projection designer Hana S. Kim, Sumo consultant and
co-fight director James Yaegashi, and co-fight and intimacy director
Chelsea Pace.
The Off-Broadway run also features prop design by Thomas Jenkeleit and dramaturgy by Amrita Ramanan, with Alyssa K. Howard serving as production stage manager and Taeuk Kang as stage manager.
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