Review Roundup: YOHEN at East West Players - What Did The Critics Think?

YOHEN runs through November 19 at East West Players Theatre. In Japanese pottery, the term "yohen" refers to unpredictable changes that take place in the kiln. James and Sumi Washington are an interracial couple struggling to maintain their 37-year marriage after James retires from the US Army. The dramatic change in routine prompts questions about life, love, and aging, as the couple attempts to repair what's broken and decide what is worth saving.

The cast stars Danny Glover reprising his role as James Washington and June Angela as Sumi Washington. YOHEN has a book by Philip Kan Gotanda, and is directed by Ben Guillory, with scenic design by Christopher Scott Murillo, costume design by Naila Aladdin Sanders, lighting design by Michael Ricks, and sound design by Corinne Carrillo.

YOHEN is a co-production between East West Players and The Robey Theatre Company.

Let's see what the critics had to say!

Daryl H. Miller, The Los Angeles Times: Humor as well as yearning emerge from the characters' differences. In the rare moments when the courting is going well, Angela's Sumi turns shy yet pleased, revealing glimpses of her younger self. Glover's James is gruffly amiable. But the script has drawbacks. It withholds too many important details until the end, by which point we've long since given up hope that the play is anything more than an unfortunate eavesdrop on a neighbor's marital discord.

Gil Kaan, BroadwayWorld: Angela's Sumi (running the gambit of emotions from very proper Japanese to flirty date to full-blown, frustrated wife yearning for more, demanding for more of anything) takes full advantage to tower over Glover's committed portrayal of an aged, fumbling, despondent James, many times at lost with his own words. The East West stage is Angela's for the full 90 minutes of Philip Kan Gotanda's YOHEN.

Paul Myrvold, Paul Myrvold's Theatre Notes: As played by Mr. Glover, James is almost always on the move, especially when he waxes high on the glories of boxing and his enthusiasm for teaching his teenaged prodigies. At these times, he roams the stage shadow boxing and speaking in a gush of words that jumble from his mouth in hesitations and repetitions, as if anxious to be understood. It is a character choice of spontaneity. As Sumi, Ms. Angela, in the moments of conflict, is the very image of Japanese reserve and modesty, but with a backbone of samurai steel. But in moments of passion or joy, she lights up with affecting emotional fire. The show has power.

Steven Stanley, Stage Scene LA: All of this places an added burden on leading lady Angela, a challenge to which the Best Lead Actress Tony nominee rises in a performance as precise as Glover's is rambling. Delicate on the outside but with a core of steel, Angela's Sumi is a richly layered portrait of a woman coming into her own, and even without Michael Ricks's exquisite lighting design, she is positively luminous.

Photos by Michael Lamont

To post a comment, you must register and login.