Greenwich Village Gazette
The Jaded Assassin

    When the reviewer arrived at the Ohio Theatre for a showing of Tim Haskell’s The Jaded Assassin, the doors were locked. She was late, as were two other theatergoers. Fortunately, so was the show’s designer, who called someone on his cell to come and let us in. He then led us through the backstage area, under the utter darkness of the bleacher seats and to our chairs in the midst of some furious onstage chop socky.  The reviewer had no idea where the story was at the moment, but what was happening before her was thrilling.

    Borrowing from the tradition of Wuxjia, The Jaded Assassin is about a warrioress (Soon-Jal, played by Jo-Anne Lee) who must hunt down Rektor, a villain she believes is responsible for setting a war curse upon the land. The curse makes everybody want to kill everything, basically, and Soon-Jal is a bit tired of all the slaughter (that’s why she’s the Jaded Assassin). But before she can defeat Rektor and find peace, her quest is punctuated by thrilling fight scenes full of tumbling, flying, leaping bodies, whirling arms and legs, wicked looking swords and spinning staves, strobe lights, silhouettes and battling puppets, a suddenly darkened stage where the only thing one sees are illuminated flying hands and feet, all choreographed to the feral beat of Malika Duckworth’s Taiko drums. It’s too bad there’s not a great deal of spurting blood as Soon-Jal amputates people’s limbs and heads a la Uma Thurman, but one can imagine. The story is narrated by Laine d’Souza, who plays a serene young woman who sits in formal dress stage left, and the ending is a bit of a surprise: this, the play seems to be saying at the end, is what happens when the madness of war grips a society.

    Given that much of the action consists of those frantic, beautiful battle scenes, the cast would be forgiven if they couldn't act, but they can.  Some can not only act but serve as assistant fight choreographers, along with chief choreographer Rod Kinter.  They’re brilliant. More, Lee is a moving Soon-Jal, in the grip of rage and bloodlust that she can barely control. Marius Hanford’s over the top Rektor reminded the reviewer of Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with his bleached hair and demonic sneer. Nick Arens makes a wise but hale old Wizard and Maggie MacDonald is a peasant girl who saves Soon-Jal from a dungeon and accompanies her on her adventure. She’s all innocence -- till the war fever grips her too. MacDonald’s also physically tough -- the way the disdainful Rektor smacks her around as she tries to kill him must have raised bruises.  Aaron Haskell is a bedeviled OoyangFeng, the wizard’s son. (“Nooooooo!” he screams, a la Luke Skywalker, when he finds this out-- did I say the play was funny on top of everything else?) who’s cursed alternately with the war curse and the insatiable desire to kiss everybody.  Judi Lewis Ockler, David Solomon Rodriguez, Jason Schumacher and Tonie Tirado round out the cast. During the curtain call the writer was amazed that not one of them was sweating. I mean, not one of them.

    Timothy Haskell’s direction is not only dazzling, but imaginative; he’s gathered around himself an extraordinary crew to complement the extraordinary cast, including writer Michael Voyer, Faye Armon, the props mistress responsible for all those flashing swords and knives and puppets, video editor Dave Buchwald, graphic designer Im Glaub, the fantastic lighting designers Nicholas Hohn and Scott Hay, sound designer Ryan Holsopple, dance choreographer Rebeca Ramirez, and set designer Paul Smithyman (was he the chap that saved me from being locked out that afternoon? Thanks if he was). Wendy Yang’s costume design is wonderful, from the Narrator’s silken draperies to Soon-Jal’s sequin dusted white top and the ragged clothes of the war-weary warriors.

    The Jaded Assassin will be at the Ohio Theater, 66 Wooster Street, till March 4. It’s really a must see!