AATC COWBOY VS. SAMURAI reviews

Flexing muscles new and old, the 34-season-strong Asian American Theater Company bounds into its new home at Thick House with young Los Angeles playwright Michael Golamco's wry 2005 comedy, Cowboy vs. Samurai, a clever nod to Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac set in Breakneck, Wyo., among its modest Asian American community.

The town's Asian American population is so small that it actually doubles (and a community technically forms) with the arrival of high school English teacher and Korean American Travis Park (Chuck Lacson), an easygoing if increasingly exasperated LA transplant. Even this tight-knit society begins fracturing beyond repair with the arrival of a beautiful, self-confident Manhattanite named Veronica Lee (Melissa Navarro), a Korean American who dates only white men. Her sights soon fall on Travis's friend, PE teacher Del (Wylie Herman), a winsome bit of lanky, twangy beefcake in a rumpled cowboy hat whose eloquent love letters, filled with wonderfully offbeat anecdotes and homespun ruminations on the meaning of love, have her swooning.

But in Golamco's shrewd and droll calculation, nobody is quite what he or she seems, or is supposed to seem, in this backwater galumphing into multiculturalism. The most unexpected disguise relates to the sure, mature drama that emerges from behind the mask of puerile comedy. If, as Golamco suggests, identity politics in 2007 lie far beyond simple formulas, the AATC's well-cast and nicely paced production (deftly helmed by San Francisco Mime Troupe veteran Keiko Shimosato) does plain, straightforward justice to this smartly contemporary take on love's muddled p.c., post-p.c., and pre-p.c. negotiations.

The many fine insights in the Asian American Theater Company's latest play manage to overshadow the distractions of a clunky two-and-a-half-hour production. Deep in Wyoming backcountry, Travis and Chester have their ideas about what it means to be Asian men in a white man's world called into question by the arrival of Veronica Lee. At the heart of playwright Michael Golamco's sweet, charming play are some refreshing and funny takes on how Asians struggle to define and retain their sense of self. Wylie Herman is particularly touching as a cowboy drawn to Veronica, and Jose Saenz throws himself with reckless abandon into the role of an Asian man looking to find some identity ˜ any identity ˜ to proudly call his own. The delicacy of Golamco's script, however, is almost crushed under the weight of lengthy blackouts and awkward set changes; where the play should flow, it creeps and stutters along. But if you're willing to forgive them their production flaws, there is a story both unique and timeless waiting to be told.

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	Reviews for AATC's Cowboy Vs. Samurai Bay Area Guardian The love below Investigating untidy matters of the heart By Robert Avila Flexing muscles new and old, the 34-season-strong Asian American Theater Company bounds into its new home at Thick House with young Los Angeles playwright Michael Golamco's wry 2005 comedy, Cowboy vs. Samurai, a clever nod to Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac set in Breakneck, Wyo., among its modest Asian American community. The town's Asian American population is so small that it actually doubles (and a community technically forms) with the arrival of high school English teacher and Korean American Travis Park (Chuck Lacson), an easygoing if increasingly exasperated LA transplant. Even this tight-knit society begins fracturing beyond repair with the arrival of a beautiful, self-confident Manhattanite named Veronica Lee (Melissa Navarro), a Korean American who dates only white men. Her sights soon fall on Travis's friend, PE teacher Del (Wylie Herman), a winsome bit of lanky, twangy beefcake in a rumpled cowboy hat whose eloquent love letters, filled with wonderfully offbeat anecdotes and homespun ruminations on the meaning of love, have her swooning. But in Golamco's shrewd and droll calculation, nobody is quite what he or she seems, or is supposed to seem, in this backwater galumphing into multiculturalism. The most unexpected disguise relates to the sure, mature drama that emerges from behind the mask of puerile comedy. If, as Golamco suggests, identity politics in 2007 lie far beyond simple formulas, the AATC's well-cast and nicely paced production (deftly helmed by San Francisco Mime Troupe veteran Keiko Shimosato) does plain, straightforward justice to this smartly contemporary take on love's muddled p.c., post-p.c., and pre-p.c. negotiations. SF Weekly Cowboy vs. Samurai By Molly Rhodes The many fine insights in the Asian American Theater Company's latest play manage to overshadow the distractions of a clunky two-and-a-half-hour production. Deep in Wyoming backcountry, Travis and Chester have their ideas about what it means to be Asian men in a white man's world called into question by the arrival of Veronica Lee. At the heart of playwright Michael Golamco's sweet, charming play are some refreshing and funny takes on how Asians struggle to define and retain their sense of self. Wylie Herman is particularly touching as a cowboy drawn to Veronica, and Jose Saenz throws himself with reckless abandon into the role of an Asian man looking to find some identity ˜ any identity ˜ to proudly call his own. The delicacy of Golamco's script, however, is almost crushed under the weight of lengthy blackouts and awkward set changes; where the play should flow, it creeps and stutters along. But if you're willing to forgive them their production flaws, there is a story both unique and timeless waiting to be told. Home \| News \| Calendar \| Directory \| Library \| Plays Copyright 2007, Roger W. Tang Questions? Email

Reviews for AATC's Cowboy Vs. Samurai