This weekend, “Aloha, Say the Pretty Girls” will be the next production of the 2012-13 Idyllwild Arts Theatre season.
Naomi Iizuka’s 1999 Whiting Writers’ Award, is a sparkling comic tidal wave.
Within the play “lives intersect, time and space disintegrate, and life is more or less absurd,” is how Idyllwild Arts theatre head and director Howard Shangraw described the production. “Characters careen into and around one another in a constant flux, yielding surprises and laughs.”
Strangers, friends, lovers, and acquaintances travel the globe from Alaska to Hawaii and from New York City to Inner Borneo in this wild comedy, in which young Generation X-ers pursue their existential quest for love and identity, complete with wild dogs, Komodo dragons, and hula dancers drifting and darting throughout this hilarious play.
An author writing the great American novel, a rejected lover cools off in Alaska and a traveler is left in Hawaii, plus more as they, and we, search for our tribe in a world gone haywire.
“Having to make sense of alien worlds interests me a great deal, as does the related questions: How do you make sense of another human being, a consciousness very different from your own?” are Iizuka’s words describing her intent.
Shangraw advises the audience that the production includes strong language and adult themes, so it’s recommended for mature audiences.
The cast includes Ashley Arnold, Javen Crosby, Kamren Fuartado, Madison Gerringer, Charles Jones III, Zen Ocean, Celeste Oliva, Delaney Spangler, Daniel Taylor, Jonathan Tibbs and Omid Yaldai-Albir.
The production team includes Rosanna Lindmarker, Samantha Son-Dokidis and Will Lovett.
The production will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Jan. 18 and 19 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20.