Ma-Yi Theater Company, La Jolla Playhouse, and The Public Theater's co-production of Sumo 相撲 officially opens its Off-Broadway premiere run at the Public's Anspacher Theater March 5 after beginning previews February 20. The extended engagement will continue through March 30.
Centering on an elite Sumo training facility in Tokyo, Lisa Sanaye Dring's play follows six men as they practice, eat, love, play, and ultimately fight.
The cast features Kris Bona as Kannushi 2, Red Concepción as Fumio, Michael Hisamoto as So, Ahmad Kamal as Ren, Earl T. Kim as Shinta, David Shih as Mitsuo, Scott Keiji Takeda as Akio, Paco Tolson as Kannushi 1, and Viet Vo as Kannushi 3, with live taiko drumming by Shih-Wei Wu. Understudies Akira Fukui, Hank Lin, and Haowen Luo 罗浩闻 round out the company.
READ: For Its Actors, the New Play SUMO Is a Showcase of 'Beautiful, Powerful Fat Bodies'
The work made its world premiere at California's La Jolla Playhouse in 2023. Bona, Hisamoto, Kim, Takeda, Vo, and Wu are all reprising their performances from the earlier bow.
Obie winner Ralph B. Peña is at the helm for the New York premiere after staging the world premiere, and has reassembled his full creative team from the California run, including scenic designer Wilson Chin, costume designer Mariko Ohigashi, lighting designer Paul Whitaker, sound designer and composer Fabian Obispo, hair and wig designer Alberto "Albee" Alvarado, projection designer Hana S. Kim, Sumo consultant and co-fight director James Yaegashi, and co-fight and intimacy director Chelsea Pace.
The Off-Broadway run also features prop design by Thomas Jenkeleit and dramaturgy by Amrita Ramanan, with Alyssa K. Howard serving as production stage manager and Taeuk Kang as stage manager.
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