June 9, 2005
A 'Pink Dress' worn as a
statement of individuality
by Rob Kendt
"It brings back a lot of memories," one older patron
said as she looked at a barbed-wire fence to the side of Victoria Profitt's set
of a World War II-era internment camp, the backdrop for writer-director Leslie
K. Gray's short puppet show "The Pink Dress."
I'd be surprised if this patronÑor anyone in attendance at the
Japanese American National MuseumÑwas similarly stirred by Gray's soft-focus
play about one young internee, Tsuki, who defies the resigned conformity of her
family and peers by wearing the title frock at her junior high graduation
inside the camp.
Gray deserves credit for targeting not only the anti-Japanese
racism that informed the U.S.'s selective wartime internment policy but the
deeper, more universal problem of internalized homogeneityÑthe ways we form
into groups and march in lock-step, even when we're not being forced into the
line.
Her metaphor is "A-ri," or ants, whom Tsuki sees first
going stoically about their work, in lovely silhouettes, and later as
beguiling, rubbery little puppets in mortarboards, announcing the graduation
dress code.
Beth Peterson's puppetry, executed smoothly by four puppeteers, is
amiably low-tech, and the best moments are wordless: a family tea party,
Tsuki's moonlit reverie. But most of the show is pedestrian, literally,
plodding about the set for talky scenes enacted to Diane Tanaka's mellifluous
voice. These, and Michael A. Gray's nearly nonstop score of soporific flute
accompaniment (performed by Patty Sikorski), make "The Pink Dress"
closer to a lullaby than a ripping good tale.
*
'The Pink Dress'
Where: Triumvirate Pi Theatre at Japanese American National
Museum, 369 E. 1st St., L.A.
When: 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday and June 18, 11 a.m. Sunday
Ends: June 18
Price: $4 to $8
Info: (213) 625-0414, Ext. 2249
Running time: 50 minutes