Some props, wigs and a mustache—that’s all the Western Theatre Ambassadors are using for their international tour to New York, London and Kobe, Japan this spring break.

The six troupe members and their director, Western assistant theater professor Rich Brown, have one last weekend of performances at Western’s Old Main Theater before embarking on their tour.  The WWU Theatre Ambassador's Tour will begin in New York during finals week.

The performance is made up of six 10-minute plays, all written by Northwest playwrights. Brown said each play features a limited number of props, which enables the actors to focus on their talent rather than their surroundings.  

Created three years ago to give theater students experience with a touring show, the Western Theatre Ambassadors have traveled in past years to the star-studded cities of New York and London.  This year, a former theater instructor made connections with a theater group in Kobe, Japan and the ambassadors included the location in their tour.

This year's tour has been dubbed the NewJapangland tour in honor of the four locations the troupe will be visiting.

The shows’ themes vary from a comic Western to a political playground conversation, though Brown says the plays are mostly comedies.  Brown said this year’s production is unique because the cast will be performing four of the plays in either intermixed or full Japanese when the tour reaches Japan.

This weekend, the Friday and Saturday performances will be entirely in English, but the troupe said Sunday’s performance will feature some in Japanese.

Western junior James McGrath said the tour is a great opportunity to perform in another country.

“Outside of this tour that’s really only something I’d get a chance to do if I moved to one of those places,” McGrath said.  “It’s an opportunity I may not get again.”

The Western Theatre Ambassadors are performing at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday at Old Main Theater. On Sunday, four of the six plays will be performed in Japanese. The cost is $5.

Rashawn Scott Q&A

Western junior Rashawn Scott is a theater major with a concentration on acting and directing.  Scott has been acting since first grade and is a member of the Dead Parrots Society, an Associated Students club that practices and performs improvisational comedy.

Western Front: What are you most looking forward to on the international tour?

Rashawn Scott: Being in Japan and not knowing at all where I am and being caught up in the fact that I’ll be on a different continent.  We got the brochure of the hotel and it’s along this beautiful coast and everything looks so beautiful and clean and very architecturally cool.  I think a week is going to be too short.  I’m going to want to stay forever.

WF: What was it like learning Japanese for the roles?

RS: Learning Japanese is fun, but quite possibly the most challenging thing I’ve ever had to do. I don’t know the language very well and I’m memorizing the phrases and I’m trying to pick out the operative words so I know what I’m saying so I can put emphasis on them.  We did a workshop with Japanese students through [Academy of International Education] and I had students that showed me how to pronounce my lines.  They said that even in Japanese these words are hard to speak. I was flabbergasted.

WF:  Out of the six plays do you have a favorite role?

RS:  I think I have two favorites.  The first is from “Scent of Man.”  James McGrath and I play characters on a blind date. He has this ridiculous mustache and he’s telling me this long story about his life.  I have to try to keep it together because it’s supposed to be a first date and he’s letting out all this funny information.  And James and I get to play off each other, which is great, because we’re both [Dead Parrots Society members] and we have comedic timing, which is great.

The other one would be from “Johnny Elgam and the Newport Kid.”  I get to play Wilhelmina O’Shay and I get to have this great cowboy accent and it’s the most different from myself because it’s a Western and there’s a really intense battle.

WF: If you could change one of the locations or add a location to the tour where would you want to perform?

RS:  In space.  I could just imagine doing the play “Tads” in space.  How many people perform in space?  How long would that flight be?  We’re already going from Seattle to New York.  From New York we have a layover in Cairo, Egypt.   Then we go to London and from there we go to Iceland for a layover and then we go to Kobe, Japan.  We’re all over the world, so we might as well add a stop on the moon—do a show there and come back.

James McGrath Q&A

Western junior James McGrath plans to declare a major in theater with an acting concentration and a possible minor in business.  McGrath auditioned for Western’s Theatre Ambassadors his freshman year as well, but he only made it to the call-backs.

He said he’s looking forward to performing in New York.

Western Front:  What got you into theater in the first place?

James McGrath:  I was always kind of a ham when I was little and that just sort of transcended into performing.  I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but when I was in middle school I saw a play with guns with blanks and blood packs and I thought the people were actually dying and that made me want to act.

WF:  What was it like to learn Japanese for your roles?

JM:  I did not learn—I memorized.  It was hard.  I’m really into voices and accents and I didn’t really study at all to adopt an accent.  We learned it all phonetically.  It was like memorizing gibberish essentially because I have no idea how to speak Japanese.  It’s a beautiful language and I have no idea what it means.  It was literally memorizing syllable by syllable.  It was hard.

WF:  What is it like to play the same role in English and Japanese?

JM:  It helps, because then I know what I’m saying in Japanese.  I don’t know all the words, but I know what I’m saying because I know it in English.

WF:  What role is the most challenging to play?

JM:  “Lazy Beauty”  in full Japanese.  For one, because we have to do it in full Japanese and two, I play a princess.  So I bring my voice up really high and it’s comical and it’s fun, but it’s a little difficult to stay in a feminine posture and keep the voice and speak Japanese.  And I have to wear a wig that falls off every five seconds, so I have to come up with creative ways to put my hand on my head to keep it on.

Kyle Henick Q&A

Western senior Kyle Henick is a theater major with an acting concentration.  Henick has also studied the Japanese language for seven years.  After graduation Henick plans to move to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.  

Western Front:  Who is your favorite actor?

Kyle Henick: My absolute favorite actor is Denzel Washington.  I think he’s phenomenal and I love all of his movies.  I respect him a lot because he does work that he wants to do.  He doesn’t do movies because they make money.  Granted, he’s already made a lot of money so he has that luxury.  

WF:  Why did you start studying Japanese?

KH:  My mom is a flight attendant and when my sister and I were little she would fly to Tokyo all the time and she would bring us back things.  And I remember in particular these cookies, “Every Burger.”  They look like little burgers, but they’re cookies.  Ever since I was little I’ve been really interested in [Japan].  I’ve always been interested in the culture and the language.  I’ve always wanted to go there.

WF:  How do you feel about going to Japan for this tour?

KH:  It’s the best thing ever.  I auditioned [for Western Theatre Ambassadors] my freshman year and didn’t get in.  Sophomore year I was going to audition, but didn’t because I heard that the next year they were going to Japan.  So I waited because I wanted to go to Japan.  To combine Japanese and acting—what I’m studying at college—into one project, what better capstone?

WF:  Is there anything else you would like to share?

KH:  When we played the show at the iDiom downtown, it was the first time we performed both versions of “Scent of Man” in the same show. And then Rashawn [Scott], Anna [White] and I did a song just for fun.  With the mustache used in this play it takes some time to take it off and on.  We had to fill some time and I had brought my guitar along.  We decided we were going to play “Heartless” by Kanye West.  So I played, and Rashawn and I sang it and then Anna did a dance.  It’s a very interesting piece of art we made.  Rich liked it a lot and he decided we should keep that format.  So both versions of “Scent of Man” will be in the performance and also the song.

Be first to comment on this article

Only registered users can post comments.
Please login or register.