“Snow Falling on Cedar” a compelling courtroom drama at HSC

HARTFORD — Adapted by Kevin McKeon from David Guterson’s novel by the same name, “Snow Falling on Cedar” at the Hartford Stage Company is a courtroom drama that looks at a painful, paranoiac period in American history of Japanese persecution on the west coast.
The drama, set in the 1940s and 1954, focuses on a Japanese American named Kabuo Miyamoto, played by the stoic Brian Tee, who is accused of murdering his boyhood friend, Carl Heine Jr., played by Mark Watson.
Heine is found dead in his fishing boat nets, and Miyamoto is suspected of the murder, particularly after his fishhook is found to have Heine’s blood type on it.
The play switches back and forth in time and place, from a courtroom, to a boat, to the Japanese interment camp, to the misty woods on the fictional island of San Padro, south of the San Juan Islands on Washington’s North Puget Sound.
The large cast is even larger, with most playing multiple characters well, such as the fine Kate Levy who does triple duty as the rigid German Etta Heine, the compassionate Mrs. Chambers, and the matter-of-fact Dr. Whitman.
Also excellent are Sean Cullen who plays the lawyer for the prosecution, Alvin Hooks, the coroner, and other characters and Ted Koch as Abel, Carl Heine Sr., George Leonard.
Mark Watson is compelling as the conflicted son, Carl Heine Jr., and the arrogant and abusive FBI Agent.
Ron Nakahara is determined and kind playing multiple characters, Hisao Imada, Zenhicki Miyamoto, and Mr. Nitta, and Mia Tagano is forthright as Fujiko Imada and Mrs. Nitta.
Tom Mardirosian who plays Miyamoto’s lawyer, Nels Gudmundsson, has a down to earth quality that reminded me of an older Atticus Finch from the play “To Kill a Mockingbird.” The similarity to that play also increases the tension — making it appear that the jury’s verdict will be a forgone conclusion, regardless of the evidence.
There is a biracial love story between reporter Ishmael Chambers, played with brooding sensitivity by Dashiell Eaves, and childhood sweetheart Hatsue Imada, played with passion and righteousness by Kimiye Corwin.
The play includes much of what happened to the Japanese before and during World War II, when they were legally removed from their homes and businesses, had their assets frozen, and forced to live in squalid and cold camps in the desert for the length of the war.
It also brings up the excellent point that the same treatment of people of German and Italian descent were not interred during the war.
The first act includes a lot of exposition, while the second act flows more smoothly. I do not like to listen to actors speaking in third person — ostensibly acting as their own narrator. It feels awkward, stilted, and strained. I am sure was an intentional stylistic choice by McKeon, but it disconnected me from the relating to the actors.
I also did not like the pantomime that is used throughout to show action, with direction by Jeremy B. Cohen, such as when they pull the dead man from the sea, or perform the autopsy. I also found the images of the floating body suspended from the backdrop and the body on the gurney superfluous.
The seemingly simple set by Takeshi Kata transforms to the different locations well. The backdrop of the beautiful cedars and conifers gives the sense of the wet and misty world of the northwest. The backdrop of the desert mountains lit in bright red, gives a sense of place too.
The center floor of the stage has the ability to spin now that the first phase of the renovation is complete, which is a nice feature. However, during the interment camp scene it felt overused and distracting.
The expanded Hartford Stage Company theatre has a new gallery that is put to good use with photographs by Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange of the Japanese who were rounded up and forced to live in the camps, which is a nice compendium to the show.
The play feels timely and relevant and is a reminder to us all not to charge people with a crime simply because of the way they look.

SNOW FALLING ON CEDAR

3 Stars
Location: Hartford Stage Company, 50 Church Street, Hartford.
Production: Adapted for the stage from David Guterson’s novel by Kevin McKeon. Directed by Jeremy B. Cohen. Scenic design by Takeshi Kata. Costume design by Jess Goldstein. Lighting design by Joel Moritz. Original music and sound design by Broken Chord Collective.
Running time: 2 ¼ hours plus one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Selected Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday performances at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinee performances Sundays and selected Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 p.m. through Feb. 13.
Tickets: $23- $66. Call 860-527-5151 or visit their website at www.hartfordstage.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Kimiye Corwin … Hatsue Imada
Dashiell Eaves … Ishmael Chambers
Brian Tee … Kabuo Miyamoto
Tom Mardirosian … Nels Gudmundsson
Sean Cullen … Alvin Hooks, Coroner, Harvey, Fisherman
Bill Doyle … Art Morgan, Sgt. Maples, Koenig, Officer Powell
Ted Koch … Abel, Carl Heine Sr., George Leonard
Kate Levy … Etta Heine, Mrs. Chambers, Dr. Whitman
Ron Nakahara … Hisao Imada, Zenhichi Miyamoto, Mr. Nitta
Mia Tagano … Fujiko Imada, Mrs. Nitta
Mark Watson … Carl Heine Jr., FBI Agent, Jackson
Alexandra Hoffman Beechko … Susan Marie Heine, Checker