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PHOTO BY HIROKO MOMOSE

ALL JAPANESE CAST. “Play Buffet X” will feature an all-Japanese cast, including (from left) Kosuke Shiozawa, Kimiko Hakomori and Yusuke Takami, who performed the hilarious “Tater Tot Terror” seen in Festival of Northwest Plays this past winter. The plays begin at 7 p. m. , but arrive by 6:30 to hear some great music.

Belly up to the play buffet

By Matt Nagle

For something different from the norm, community theater fans and anyone looking for something new to do will want to check out “Play Buffet X” this week, presented by the Academy of International Education, Broadway Center for the Performing Arts and Northwest Playwrights Alliance. Starring an all-Japanese cast of 34 college students, most of whom live in Lakewood and attend either St. Martin’s University or Pierce College, “Play Buffet X” features six new short plays that will be staged for one performance only at 7 p.m. on Aug. 16 at Theater on the Square (915 Broadway). Admission is free, and a reception will follow the performances.

On the playbill:

• “Play” by Olympia playwright Dan Erickson, awarded “Best Ten-Minute Play in the Northwest” by the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.
• “Beavers Rule” by Richland playwright Cathy Sampson, a comedy about a man named Johan whose job as a school mascot interferes with his romantic life.
• “The Square” by Bellingham’s Michael Wallace, a charming, sobering and unforgettable play that explores the politics of the playground.
• “Three Kings” by Houston playwright James Venhaus discovers (and then tramples on) the true meaning of Christmas, and teaches the lesson to never bet your spouse’s gift in the name of poker.
• “The Tale of Johnny Elgam and the Newport Kid” by Aaron Shay, a not to be missed tale of Pokemon meets John Wayne.
• “Lefty” by Northwest Play-wrights Alliance’s playwright-in-residence Bryan Willis exposes revolution on the diamond as Lefty refuses to follow orders.

 According to Willis, in his 11th summer with Academy of International Education and long active with Northwest Playwrights Alliance, the students who comprise the cast did not make it in the traditional Japanese school system. In fact, every one of them was kicked out of their respective Japanese high schools for academic and/or disciplinary reasons, “an astonishing concept once you see the intelligence, passion and exuberance they display on stage,” Willis commented.

“It will be a surreal, uplifting and curiously theatrical experience.”

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