Meeting the parents can make for tense situations when two people are engaged to be married. However. Anyone who’s experienced it will know, that when the engagement involves two people from two different countries and cultures, things can be much tenser than they need to be. It’s been seen in movies, and now a stage play steps up to the plate to illustrate the challenges of these first encounters and the hopes of a good first impression. With a cross-culture collaboration, comes a cross-cultured production in that of Missing People. The play made its debut just last year and has been recorded for anyone to watch.
Missing People takes place in Japan, where fiancés Sakiko and Dan (and Dan’s mother Linda) are flying from the U.K. back to Sakiko’s home to meet her parents before the wedding.
Missing People takes place in Japan, where fiancés Sakiko and Dan (and Dan’s mother Linda) are flying from the U.K. back to Sakiko’s home to meet her parents before the wedding. Sakiko intends to be realistic with Dan about the controlling nature of her parents, though Dan is of course determined to foster a pleasant interaction. Things are as one would initially expect: Awkward, and with the language barrier in place, slightly difficult to navigate even with Sakiko there to translate. This would ideally be the worst of everyone’s problems, until the family learns that Sakiko’s brother is missing. This revelation raises tensions, brings uncomfortable truths to light, and forces everyone to face the issues they have with each other and themselves.
The production team puts the space to fair use for this staging. The set is built mostly with pillars, also serving as screens for Japanese subtitles for the English parts, and the recording subtitling the Japanese dialogue for online viewers. There’s also furniture moved in and out of the space to signify specific locations. The lighting was adequately designed, though there are moments where the actors aren’t standing under them when necessary. Whether this blocking was imposed by the directors or the actors is unclear, but it’s not that big an issue. Of the actors, the Japanese parents are the most watchable. Yukata Oda, playing the father, comes off as the most engaged with everything that’s happening. He responds well to the other actors, speaking and moving across the stage with concise motivation. The mother played by Natsumi Nanase is caring and hospitable as well as nurturing and understanding, a nature familiar to any mother. She plays her part true to generational Japanese culture and accommodates it with a modern spin. The overall writing of the piece is suggestive of experiencing Japanese traditions and customs, which gives Missing People a tone of credibility.
Missing People is an experience that many will understand well, and others won’t. It’s clear to see that this play was written with a particular audience in mind, but, it’s entertaining enough for anyone who enjoys sitting in for a decent play. It’s a brand new production, so to those interested, the viewing experience will be fresh because there’s nothing to compare it to. The full recording can be found on whatsonstage.com at no cost, though donations are welcome.
