By Sandi Masori
SAN DIEGO — The newest show commissioned by The Old Globe, Empty Ride, is described by writer Keiko Green and director Sivan Battata as a ghost story, but it’s one that’s a bit different.
Set in Ishinomaki, Japan in 2016, artist Kisa (Michele Selene Ang) goes home to her small town after her dad (Jojo Gonzalez) falls ill. The town is still grappling with the aftereffects of the landscape-transforming 2011 Tsunami, in which many people disappeared. Kisa ends up taking over her dad’s job as a taxicab driver. Along the way she gets reacquainted with a childhood friend (Major Curda) and his sister (Jully Lee) and learns some family secrets.
Going through her father’s papers, she’s puzzled by a series of “empty rides” he made- so called when the taxi meter is run but the fare is not paid. Those rides end up being paid by the driver, using up a significant amount of his income. As Kisa sets out to understand the expenses, she learns a lot more about the town’s unseen inhabitants.
This is staged in the theater-in-the round, which always requires extra creativity when it comes to the sets as large set pieces would block the audiences view. Drop down signs and lamps help orient the audience to each location. As much of the action happens in the taxi, they use a simple dashboard on wheels and mime the rest. It’s effective and gives a way for the actors to turn to different sides of the audience as they drive along the town. A table and small kitchen set are also brought on and off the stage to indicate when they’re in the house or the pub.
All of the actors are members of Actors’ Equity, so one can expect the acting to be solid, and it was. All five cast members do a wonderful job in their roles. There was one scene that I particularly found amusing, when a gaigin (foreigner) (David Rosenberg) got into Kisa’s cab and tried to talk to her in very broken Japanese. It’s done in English and sounds ridiculous. As someone who tries hard to communicate in any language, with the very limited vocabulary I may have learned, (and having been a gaigin in Japan myself). I identified very much with the foreigner.
While the plot doesn’t have a Jewish angle, we are represented by Jewish director Sivan Battat and Rosenberg.
Empty Ride will be at The Old Globe through March 2.
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Sandi Masori is a theater and restaurant reviewer for San Diego Jewish World