Review: Search for love is a blast
By Janet Kwon
For the Northwest Asian Weekly
Filled with a collage of mismatched sofas and chairs, the third-floor theater of Capitol Hill's Northwest Actors Studio was at maximum occupancy Friday night for the premiere of "Big Hunk o' Burnin' Love," presented by the Pork Filled Players. Friends and strangers alike cozied up in the living room-esque atmosphere to be entertained. By the looks of their fits of laughter and intensely rapt attention, the crowd was more than satisfied.
Set in present-day San Francisco, "Big Hunk o' Burnin' Love" is the Seattle sketch comedy troupe's first full-length play. It delves into the life of Winston, a single struggling Thai American actor striving to maintain a balanced family and social life, all while fighting off an ancient family curse. Mere days before his 30th birthday, Winston finds out that he will literally go up in flames if he does not get married before reaching his third decade. Grudgingly accepting his bizarre fate, Winston goes on a mission to find a wife.
His off-the-wall parents, artfully played by Leilani Berinobis and Daniel
Arreola, bully him to marry a mail-order bride from Thailand. His best friend Nick (Christian Ver) also tries to help him find Ms. Right. But Winston's heart isn't in it. Inching toward spontaneous combustion by the day, Winston grapples to find true love while toiling to appease those around him.
Winston (Jose Abaoag) struggles as he walks the fine line between honoring his family's cultural background and maintaining the American ideals that enmesh his daily existence, something that many young Asian Americans experience. From his monologues to the slightest sigh or smirk, Abaoag's performance is genuine and heartfelt through and through. This palpable and relatable sincerity spans throughout the cast, as the actors build up their characters with a vivid believability that captures the attention and emotions of the audience
The script builds a tangible tension as Winston's impending explosion creeps near, with scenes ending in cliffhangers or loaded rhetorical questions. Even when the plot halts for individual character monologues, the storyline doesn't snag. These monologues give the audience an in-depth look into the character's psyche, adding layers of nuance and opportunities for empathy.
The interaction between Kellen Kaiser, playing Nick's wife Sylvia, and Abaoag stands out above all. The duo exudes a kind of graceful comfort on stage that eliminates the boundary between actors and audience, creating the sense that they are old friends who have invited you over for coffee. Kaiser's character is so endearing that it's easy to side with her during brewing problems with her husband, who isn't exactly to blame for their marital issues. That's not to say that Nick is without fault - he's sarcastic, bitter and acts more than a little self-important. But Ver's performance takes this character to different levels in both drama and comedy.
On top of everything, the Pork Filled Players add another dimension by sprinkling interesting nuggets of cultural information into the play. These tidbits were integrated seamlessly into Prince Gomolvilas' script and in no way were they overbearing or tinged with that "educational" feel.
Though "Big Hunk o' Burnin' Love" diverges from the Pork Filled Players' norm of shorter sketches, the group hopes to showcase its chemistry and charisma in more full-length productions in the future, says producer Roger Tang. In fact, a musical may be in the works for the Players, Tang added.
"Big Hunk o' Burnin' Love" runs through March 24 (Fridays and Saturdays only) at 8 p.m. at Northwest Actors Studio, 1100 E. Pike St., Seattle. Tickets are $10-$14. For more information, visit www.porkfilled.com or call 206-3256500.
Janet Kwon can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
The Stranger
I can't imagine anyone hailing from a traditional background—Baptist, Jewish, Korean, whichever—and not liking this peppy at least a little bit. Poking fun at Thai-American (or, really, any conservative) culture, Big Hunk rakes the familiar theme of parents' hysteria over an unmarried child and gives it a metaphoric boost. Twenty-nine-year old Winston (Jose Abaoag) wants to find the right girl, but Mom and Dad (Leilani Berinobis, Daniel Arreola) believe if he doesn't marry (preferably a Thai girl) before he is 30, he will spontaneously combust and die in an enormous shower of flames. The fictional family curse is a smart bit of invention from L.A.-based playwright Prince Gomolvilas; the breaking of family traditions feels like a violent, life-ending disaster to elders, and can incite anxiety and panic even in the younger generations.
The actors are stoked and loud. Arreola is sharp as Dad, his timing and gestures smooth and practiced. The comedy revolves around one-liners, sit-com style: "The truth will set you free—but first, it will piss you off," says Winston's friend Sylvia as he dives into a panicked countdown to his 30th birthday. In keeping with the Pork Filled Players' sketch-comedy background, BIg Hunk consists of 18 short scenes punctuated by blackouts; the set is simply a puffy couch, dressed or undressed to suggest a living room or street corner with a pay phone. While Gomolvilas' script is hardly free from cliches (spare me the monologues about dreams and nightmares), Big Hunk is a fun, fast-paced look at intergenerational angst.
STACEY LEVINE
Family curse puts a fire under son to find a wife fast
By Leah B. Green
Special to The Seattle Times
The title of Prince Gomolvilas' play, "Big Hunk O' Burnin' Love," is meant to be taken literally. The play prominently features the twin fires of love and spontaneous human combustion, linked inextricably by a family curse to the fate of a Thai-American man. Sure, you say, spontaneous human combustion is a myth, but it's a myth made moderately believable by the boundless internal energy of the Pork Filled Players cast at Northwest Actors Studio.
The Pork Filled Players are best known as a Seattle Asian-American sketch-comedy group — this is, in fact, their first effort at producing a play written by an outside author (Gomolvilas is an award-winning San Francisco playwright). And their roots do show in this effort, directed by "Sex in Seattle" veteran Miko Premo, which sacrifices some drama for comedy.
Despite the inherent zaniness of the premise, Gomolvilas' play actually has quite a bit of dramatic heart. The parablelike tale revolves around Winston, a second-generation Thai-American who finds out from his parents that a family curse will cause him to literally go up in flames if he doesn't marry by his 30th birthday. Winston is understandably skeptical but, doomsday being a mere four days away, he indulges in a frantic bride search to be safe.
The search, which spans everything from mail-order teenage brides to club-hopping desperation, exposes Winston's lost confidence and stagnation — qualities which Winston must quickly banish if he is to avoid his fiery fate.
As the increasingly sweaty Winston, Jose Abaoag brings a fevered energy to the proceedings which keeps the pace, if by glossing over some emotional truth. As his unlikely love interest, Sylvia (his best friend's wife, who has just been diagnosed with cancer), Kellen Kaiser brings the most subtlety to the proceedings, balancing comic timing with authenticity.
The play (and the audience) benefit from the environs of the Northwest Actors Studio Cabaret space, where comfortable couch seating gives the illusion that you have invited the Pork Filled Players to perform in your living room.
One can't help but root for the actors, for the characters and for Winston in this unconventionally romantic tale.
Pork Filled Players' first full-length play about the whimsies of the human heart is both touching and funny
by Rajkhet Dirzhud-Rashid - SGN A&E Writer
Big Hunk O' Burnin' Love
Directed by Miko Premo
Starring Jose Aboag, Christian Ver, Leilani Berinobis, Daniel Arreola
Elizabeth Daruthayan, Kellen Kaiser
Northwest Actors Studio (cabaret space)
March 2-24
Having followed Pork Filled Players' journey from quirky, hilariously diverse comedy troupe to their first full-length play is sort of like being a parent and watching a child grow. True, I'm sure they feel that more than I do, but still, sitting in the audience last weekend, it was heartening to see that this talented group of actors is finally ready for more than short sketches on everything from being Asian in America to the changing political scene.
The first play by Prince Gomolvilas, a Thai playwright, is as engaging as it is funny -- something typical of PFP -- and this first attempt by the group at a longer effort is also centered and moving. I loved that there were an equal number of laughs with an equal number of awkward and touching moments between the actors onstage. Clearly, the group is finding its footing, but last weekend's opening showed great promise.
I also liked the choice of material for their debut as a more serious group, because Big Hunk 'O Burnin' Love is not so far from what the group usually does that they floundered. Nope, handling the story of a young man (Daniel Arreola, 'Sex In Seattle' regular), being pushed in to marriage because of a supposed family curse seemed easy for the group. And the choice of actors to bring this 'touching 30' story to life was/is very appropriate, and this group works together well as an ensemble, with standout performances by newcomer Kellen Kaiser, and newcomer Elizabeth Daruthayan being paired with those of vets Jose Aboag, Daniel Arreola and Leilani Berinobis. In short, it's a play worth seeing, especially if you're already a fan of PFP. And if you're not, this is a good chance to see them really stretch their acting muscle. I only hope this venture is something they'll continue doing, because I liked what I saw.
For information on tickets and times, call 206-325-6500, or visit, www.ticketwindowonline.com.
Pork Filled Players venture into new territory
By Rosemary Jones
Capitol Hill Times
The Pork Filled Players rather optimistically suggest allowing 15 to 20 minutes to find parking outside the Northwest Actors Studio (NWAS). After spending some 45 minutes wandering around the Pike/Pine corridor on a wet Friday night, I returned to home and resolved to see their latest production another night.
I've loved this troupe of Asian American actors since they first started popping up in fringe festivals and late-night cabarets back in the 1990s. Fast, sassy and often with a lot of say hidden under their punchlines, they launched a whole tribe of Asian-American actors onto the Seattle scene. Such actors are often underutilized and ignored, but that's another story.
So when artistic director Roger Tang announced that the company was heading into new territory, presenting a fully-scripted evening of comedy/drama, I wanted to be there.
The next night the traffic was only half the Friday nightmare and I wisely slid my car into place around 5:30 p.m., window-shopped my way down Pike, had a slow dinner and returned to NWAS with plenty of time to see "Big Hunk 0' Burnin' Love."
If you live within walking distance of NWAS or have better parking karma than me, this is a pleasant two-hours of romantic comedy oddly tarred with a little drama.
Like the sketch comedy the troupe regularly performs, "Big Hunk 0' Burnin' Love" chops its scenes down into tiny chunks (10 scenes in the first one-hour act, eight in the second act of equal length). With lots of blackouts to cover the one piece of furniture on stage with various drapes, the actors are never on stage for more than 10 minutes at a time and are often alone, addressing the audience in a series of monologues that would make great audition pieces. The pacing gives the whole play a bit of an improv comedy feel, even though the actors stay in character all night long.
Jose Abaoag flashes a beautiful smile and looks at least a decade younger than the supposedly 29turning-30 Winston. Doomed by a family curse to spontaneously combust if he doesn't marry by age 30, the Thai-American Winston struggles throughout the play with his fear of commitment, briefly considering marrying a "fresh off the boat" Thai teenager while flirting with the white wife of his best friend, a Chinese-American gynecologist.
As the gynecologist friend Nick, Christian Ver (a PFP veteran) gets some of the best lines and the worst costumes on the stage. Why the well-to-do Nick, a professional rocketing up in his career, spends all his time in a droopy white sweater remains one of those mysteries of fringe theater. Although playing a guy who is supposedly more sophisticated than Winston (if equally clueless about love), as well as much more economically secure in his world, Ver looked like an underpaid undergraduate for most of the evening.
Better served in the wardrobe department and probably having the most fun of the evening, Daniel Arreola as Winston's father and Leilani Berinobis as his mother form the compassionate core of the play. While the other characters call them the "eccentrics" for wanting their child to marry and live happily, who wouldn't sympathize with a pair of parents trying to save their son from bursting into flames?
As the racetrack-loving Dad, Arreola conveys the universal frustration of fathers faced with a son who really doesn't want to grow up and get a "real" job (Winston works temp jobs while auditioning for TV shows). Berinobis steals every scene that she is in, whether plotting with Noi (Elizabeth Daruthayan) about how to get Winston married or demonstrating the "Clapper" that she's just installed in their house.
Noi arrives in Winston's home with equally ambivalent feelings about the marriage arranged by his parents and a boyfriend back in Thailand. Since supra-titles haven't made it into American theater, she delivers her "Thai" monologue in English, catching up the audience on her own troubles of the heart before disappearing under the two-word sentences that she uses to communicate with Winston.
Trapped in the most thankless role, Kellen Kaiser is Nick's wife, Winston's former love interest and a 20-something woman newly diagnosed with breast cancer. That's a lot of baggage for the only white girl in the production! Kaiser tries valiantly to turn a plot device into a human being, but she's stuck with long periods of looking like she drank sour milk while everyone around her pontificates.
While the play concentrates on Winston and his ambivalence about marriage Thai style, playwright Prince Gomolvilas has a nice light touch and an appealing plot reminiscent of the "Sex in Seattle" episodes. Back in 1998, when this play premiered, it may have felt off the wall or even unusual in its depiction of Thai-American home life. It's only when Gomolvilas ventures into gynecology, mammograms and white girls' attraction to Asian guys that the plot and the dialogue feels a little forced.
In his program notes, director Miko Premo said he picked this work for the PFP's inaugural non-sketch show because it was about "the universal problem of defining who one is in the face of race, gender, familial obligation and a modernistic society."
Tang's notes revealed that he wanted to bring Gomolvilas' work to the Seattle stage. Looking over the synopsis of later Gomolvilas plays, the later, quirkier works by this prolific playwright seems an even better fit for his troupe.
For now, this featherweight play makes for a pleasant two hours of entertainment for longtime Pork Filled Player fans or "Sex in Seattle" aficionados who can't wait for the June episode. But, for the biggest laughs or to introduce your friends to the delights of this talented group, save your bucks for their October sketch show.
"Big Hunk 0' Burin' Love" runs through March 24 on Friday and Saturday nights, 8p.m., at the Northwest Actors Studio, 1100 E. Pike St. Tickets are $14 at the door or $10 for students/seniors.
Rosemary Jones writes about arts and entertainment and can be reached at editor@capitolhilltimes.com.
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