Revenge
is a family business for the characters of Lone
Wolf and Cub. This is not exactly an
official stage adaptation, but fans of the manga and films will recognize
certain elements. The Rogue Assassin’s
young Boy did indeed choose the sword over the ball. However, they might just meet their match in
the form of the titular nemesis in Fred Ho & Ruth Margraff’s musical
martial arts stage-production, Deadly She-Wolf Assassin at Armageddon! (trailer here), which officially
opened this weekend at La MaMa’s Ellen Stewart Theatre.
Once,
the Rogue Assassin was the Shogun’s Kaishakunin, until the Imperial councilor,
Iyagu of the ruthless Yagyu clan, convinced the old tyrant to turn against his
loyal executioner. Iyagu’s assassins
succeed in killing his wife, but the Shogun’s betrayed “second” escapes with
his infant son. This proves to be a
costly escapade. For ten years, the
Rogue Assassin cuts through the Imperial assassins and ninjas like butter,
depleting the Shogun’s treasury and undermining his ruling authority.
Rather
sick of it all, the Shogun imports three super assassins from abroad, at
considerable cost to Iyagu’s face. Not
inclined to take matters lying down, the old conspirator plays his trump card,
unleashing the She-Wolf Assassin. Raised
from infancy to be Iyagu’s personal La Femme Nikita, her fate is mysteriously intertwined
with that of the renegade father and son.
Much
fighting ensues, impressively choreographed by lead actor Yoshi Amao for swords
and Emanuel Brown (Electro in Broadway’s Spider-man:
Turn Off the Dark) for martial arts beatdowns. The resulting spectacle is musically accompanied
by the Afro Asian Music Ensemble, under the direction of conductor-multi-reed
player Masaru Koga, performing Fred Ho’s funky Lone Wolf-inspired score.
Incorporating elements of electric bass and baritone sax driven
blaxploitation soundtracks and traditional koto and shakuhachi music, Ho’s
themes are hip and propulsive, yet still fit the Jidaigeki action on-stage.
Unfortunately,
Ho’s hardcore leftist ideology does not serve the story as well. Frankly, the Uncle Sam assassin caricature is
just laughably didactic. A chicken fried
colonialist, Colonel USA is a bit of agitprop street
theater that does not fit the otherwise dignified Noh-esque production.
Regardless,
the stagecraft of She-Wolf is quite
impressive. The lighting and smoke are
suitably moody and the spare set is rather evocative. Likewise, the costumes provide the right
period look without interfering with the fight choreography.
The
cast holds up their end too. Yoshio Amao
is all kinds of brooding badness as the Rogue Assassin, but Ai Ikeda does him
one better as the steely She-Wolf. Takemi
Kitamura also shows some dramatic flair and action cred as She-Wolf’s sister
(the most substantial of her three roles).
As is standard practice, two
young actors rotate as the Boy. Bradley Fong showed real presence in the part
Sunday afternoon, never drowning amid all the stage effects and melee unleashed
around him. (His alternate, Jet Yung is surely quite good as well.) With Perry Yung’s Iyagu chewing the scenery
with admirable villainous glee, it is a strong ensemble all around.
This
is one of the better martial arts themed productions to grace New York’s
independent stages in a fair amount of time and the music is always very cool. There are certain awkward excesses to She-Wolf, but that is sort of par for
the course in New York’s theater world.
Hopefully, Mr. Ho is happy with director Sonoko Kawahara’s muscular
staging, considering the program’s sad note regarding his ill health. Recommended for martial arts fans and soul-world
fusion jazz listeners, She-Wolf Assassin
at Armageddon! runs through June 2nd at La MaMa’s Ellen Stewart
Theatre.