"Durango"

Tonight I saw Durango by Julia Cho at the Public Theater. I didn't really know what to expect, as I was unfamiliar with the play and the playwright, but I generally trust the Public Theater to present all-around solid productions. All of the the shows I've seen that were produced by the Public (Two Gentlemen ot Verona, Mother Courage, See What I Wanna See, Stuff Happens, Satellites, Wrecks) have been expertly designed and directed, and Durango was no different. The sets, which slid on and off neatly, really did a good job juxtaposing the closed spaces of a house with wide open desert spaces, and the underscoring was also wonderfully evocative, blending well with the original songs Cho has written for the character of Isaac.

James Saito as Boo-Seng in Durango.

The play follows a family -- an older Asian American man, Boo-Seng, and his two sons, Isaac and Jimmy -- and their revelatory roadtrip from Arizona to Durango, Colorado in the wake of Boo-Seng's losing his job to a layoff. It was a largely satisfying play, especially when the plot took wing in the second half, revealing the characters' failures, losses, and regrets in a mostly successful manner. The acting was top-notch, with veteran actor James Saito commanding fierce attention as Boo-Seng.

My only real problem with the play was that, in including two teenaged main characters, Cho sometimes allows the colloquialisms, overuse of expletives, and cultural references take over to too great of an extent. Obviously she's going for realism, but it almost felt forced, especially during a particularly awkward reference to X-Men. The actors in the roles of these sons do a wonderful job though, particularly Jon Norman Schneider, who really captivated me as Jimmy, the closted gay swimmer struggling to play fit into the roles of "good son" and "happy son" at the same time.

Overall, a fine production of a mostly successful play.