“Garuda’s Wing” is a complex gem of a play, beautiful and sonorous, intellectually exciting and emotionally grand, that deeply explores intimate relationships in rich historical contexts. It is nothing if not ambitious. For all its considerable excellence, it is also confusing (perhaps intentionally) and difficult to review.
The play takes place in three parts, all set at the location of a forest camp and research center in Borneo, created and run by eccentric primatologist Ellen Sewell, who is fascinated by orangutans. So much so that she abandoned marriage and a child to live alone in the wilderness amongst her beloved apes.
In the first part, we observe a meeting between Sewell (brilliantly brought to vivid life by Nora El Samahy) and visiting photojournalist Michael Suarez (played with effective restraint by Juan Manuel Amador). Sewell has agreed to the visit, but is nevertheless suspicious of Suarez’s motives. Is he exploiting her, or helping her? She wants to save the orangutangs from extinction, and he wants to call attention to their plight. But would the attention do any good? Would the forest be flooded with tourists? Would the orangutangs survive the onslaught? As the scene develops, it becomes apparent that both of these fascinating people are hiding secret agendas. Suarez seems to doubt Sewell’s authenticity, and suggests she may be a crazed fanatic. Sewell seems to be playing a game of cat-and-mouse. There may have been a murder that Suarez may be investigating. Sewell may be a madwoman or a saint. Suarez may be her friend or her enemy. Just as the groundwork for a fascinating plot has been laid out, the playwright stops the action and takes us in a new direction.
The time of the second part is 16 years after the first in real time, but the character is a ghost from the past. Julia Barrett, a botanist (actually the ghost of a botanist) who visited this place to explore the rainforest for healing plants. Perhaps she is Suarez’s sister, the one who disappeared, and was possibly murdered. It is possible that Ellen killed Julia to protect the forest. It is possible that Ellen and Julia were lovers. It is possible that things both wonderful and terrible happened here, but we can’t be sure what. And the wonder and the terror are all related to the wonder and terror of the rain forest, and the wild animals, and the history of colonization that haunts this place even as Julia haunts it. Catherine Castellano’s Julia delivers a fantastic complex monologue of shocking length that is completely riveting. But, as with the scenes that proceeded this one, the story is never precisely clear.
And so it goes through two more scenes. We see the research center in various incarnations over half a century. We see the return of Ellen’s daughter, Diah Imazumi (Kina Kanitor), who Ellen had sent away to Europe while remaining in Borneo on her own. We see the property in the hands of new age promoter Alison Wilson-Lee (a wickedly comic performance by Mia Tagano).
Finally, we meet Grace Kibawa (the excellent Jeunée Simon), a representative of a multi-national pharmaceutical company who has her own agenda, which may or may not be entirely on the up-and-up.
All of this is revealed in dialogue that sparkles and dances with emotion while threading its way through multiple intellectual and historical concerns ranging from the climate crisis, to the disappearance of endangered species and rain forests, to matters of revolution and fanatacism, to colonial evil, to family complexities, to the pharmco-medical establishment and even more. Along the way, in spite of these complex themes, playwright Iizuka delivers dialogue that is extremely funny, and the laughs (and gasps) are continuous. The humor is rooted in intellect and character, never in simple gags are casual jokes.
Only partial stories are revealed, both in the personal lives of the characters and in the facts of history. And is that not the way of history? We never have the whole story. We do our best to grasp a big picture and a larger sequence . We are individuals with personal histories that matter, and yet we are simultaneously pawns of a larger history that also matters.
“Garuda’s Wing,”is a flash of complexity and wonder both personal and historical, as gorgeous and significant as the trembling of an insect’s wing—a trembling that can change the course of history. Or maybe not.
This sort of complex original work is the life’s blood of the Magic Theatre, and it is thrilling to see that tradition served so well.
Director Margo Hall takes a firm hand with this material, never once allowing interest to flag. The design team (especially the excellent video designs by Joan Osato) supports the play beautifully in a subtle fashion that never calls attention to itself. Tanya Orellana designed the sets; Kyo Yohena the costumes; gg torres the lighting; and Chstopher Sauceda the sound.
“Gardua’s Wing” is a memorable, otherworldly experience.
“Garuda’s Wing” runs at the Magic Theatre through June 23. For further information click here.
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Rating: **** (For an explanation of TheatreStorm’s rating scale, click here)
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