What do cell phones, natural disasters, and the industrial revolution have in common? LOL: The End (written and performed by Michi Ilona Osato, Una Aya Osato, and Yoshimasa “Sen” Osato) sets out to investigate how the world got to where it is, starting with Man’s earliest domination over nature in order to create shelter, and ending with the isolation that can occur as Man becomes more and more enmeshed in the virtual world of hand-held devices.  Though there are less than a dozen words squeaked out in this dense multimedia interaction (which includes curated new media samples from YouTube, ultramodern kabukesque pieces of clowning, and interpretive dance) the message of this show is still clearly vital, diversified, and meaningful.

The central push of this piece is to show how our scramble for comfort is never-ending and essentially the more we have the more our smaller problems require higher costs to avoid them. The end of the world has never been so engrossing as with the physical comedy and funny dramatic redirections of the audience by Michi as the personification of Greed with its quest to maintain power over others. She sets us in our place while we have pity for Una’s embodiment of the innocence of the havenots around the world and throughout history.

As the story progresses we are given an evolving view and review showing that sometimes those who don’t have the most (or are the  meekest – or most friendly) can actually be  the great causers of  disaster even if they are also the most abused.   They are like drowning victims who will desperately pull down anyone or anything along with them as they sink to the bottom.  Yoshimasa, as the face of the Earth  (or more elusive “Nature”) shows how the earth is patient, but can be irritated at the ridiculousness of Man’s desire to remake the world into something safer and easier to control yet only manages to make it less stable.   While LOL is light-hearted in its depiction of our moves toward disaster, the overall message is more hard-hitting than many documentaries on the subject.  This is perhaps because we can identify with the characters so readily.  With so much meaning laden on so little verbal communication, kudos must be given to the director Moises Belizario who had a lot to orchestrate in this piece. With the sheer number and requirement for precise arrangement, stage manager Clarissa Ligon should get a shout out as well.  The multimedia portions of the show were divided between the sometimes driving and sometimes serene music of Yuri Ryback and Jordan Battiste, as well as by the careful video curation and editing done by Una Aya Osato and Michi Ilona Osato.

Performers from left to right: Una Aya Osato, Michi Ilona Osato, and their father Yoshimasa "Sen" Osato

The beginning of this play, I believe, was intentionally a bit alien and hard to understand; the mysticism of the past which ruled us is so much less in control now-a-days. The dialogue between the three on stage at first seems almost like an abstract dance celebrating color and emotion. By the end of the show the audience is shown a postapocalyptic world where humankind is reduced back to their primal state by a believable set of circumstances.

We see the dance with death, the wonder and the magic of how we react to the power of “disasters” celebrated again by those now newly primitive, echoing the beginning of the play.  In this beautiful yet horrifying dance toward the end, we see the black veil of death alternating with the bright red of fire, blue of water disasters, and even white of disasters of the air in a way that clearly shows the sort of fear modern people could find if our filters of  intervening media of various types were removed.  In this very much the-end-is-the-beginning-is-the-end sort of moment, we realize that most likely, no matter what we do, it is possible the world will go on even if civilization is swept aside by human carelessness.  It becomes quite humbling to see the end where everything returns back to square one, except for the relics of the past strewn around a new landscape.  Like the myths of giants who caused the mountains, the somber peace that enshrouded the audience after the rush of symbolic destruction was palpable.

The image of Yoshimasa as the calmed Earth Spirit in the end  covering his children with a dark veil, with a look of compassion yet a hint of bewilderment and the remaining covering of bright pink hair (representing I think the lasting spiritual miasma which would stay with the earth) that ends the play is  one that will stay with me for a long time.  Try to fit this show in if you can, and you will likely get a lot to reflect on for many days to come.

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The 2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL will run February 22-March 4 at The Kraine Theater & The Red Room (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Ave and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Ave and Ave A). Tickets to all shows may be purchased online at www.FRIGIDnewyork.info or by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444.

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Five Questions. Five Answers. And One Big Decision: Rock, Paper, Or Scissors?

LOL: The End.

Keep It Movin’ Productions

Come to a place where tragedy meets comedy meets stupid. A funny and physical look at natural and human-made disasters through the eyes of three clowns. Award-winning writer/performer Una Aya Osato is joined by her family, Michi Osato and Yoshimasa Osato.

Show Times:

• Fri 2/24 @ 10:30pm
• Sat 2/25 @ 2:30pm
• Tue 2/28 @ 10:30pm
• Fri 3/2 @ 7:00pm
• Sun 3/4 @  7:00pm

Answers by

Una Aya Osato (co-playwright/co-performer)

and Michi Ilona Osato (co-playwright/co-performer)

Karen Tortora-Lee’s Question
That’s some title. How did you come up with it – and what does it mean?
The Osatos: LOL: The End is a funny and physical look at natural and human-made disasters seen through the eyes of three clowns. Overwhelmed by the magnitude of destruction we all live with, our family looked to clowns with the hope that by allowing the “idiot” to interpret for us, that we would be better able to understand disaster and find the ways that still remain to come out hopeful and laughing. LOL: The End as a title came about through a back and forth juggling of the ideas of the show between us sisters. Natural disaster, apocalypse, human created unjust catastrophes, the media, the future, hope…ultimately LOL: The End made the most sense.

Diánna Martin’s Question
If you were going to invite five people, anyone from past and present, to see your FRIGID show – who would you invite and why?
The Osatos: We’d put on the VIP list:

Our Obachan (grandmother), she lives in Japan, and is the most graceful, loving, thoughtful person we know. We want her to see this show because she inspires us in all we do, including creating and performing this show. Also our grandmother on our mother’s side, we never met her, but this would probably be a great way to meet and get to know each other.

Paul Robeson, a true renaissance person, a brilliant artist, activist, and athlete (among many other things), and always found a way to bring all of these elements of his life together. A quote we love of his: “The artist must elect to fight for slavery or freedom. I have made my choice.”

Charlie Chaplin, his work has kept us laughing and inspired for some time now, I mean duh he’s a genius. And his grandson James Thiérrée, who we’ve had the privilege of witnessing his wonder and has pushed us to imagine beyond all we can see to create the worlds we want.

Naomi Klein, her work The Shock Doctrine has really informed and inspired our work, oh we’d be so honored to have her at the show.

All of these people we’d be so excited to be there, can you all invite them??? :)

Antonio Minino’s Questiona
What is the biggest sacrifice you’ve ever made for your Art and was it worth it?
The Osatos: The biggest sacrifice I and we have made for our art has been working on this show, and making the choice to work so intensely together as a family. There are many people who would never try to create and perform a show with their family while also living all together for the first time in years. Like a family vacation, spending all of this time and having these experiences together has had it’s challenges but has ultimately been incredible. Individually and as a group, we have continued to learn and grow every moment we have been working on this show. Though we have made this show a priority and have sacrificed the rest of our lives and time to work on this project, it’s been worth every second.

Geoffrey Paddy Johnson’s Question
Was there any unexpected discovery made during the development of this production and, if so, can you share it?
The Osatos: Something that has been unexpected is how the project has just grown and grown and gathered more and more of our family. It has been our closest friends and family who have been helping with every aspect of the show. It seems like there is a place and need for everyone’s talents and we are SO grateful to everyone’s kindness and generosity! This show is being made through a collaboration of love by a huge family that spans continents and we are so extremely excited to begin sharing it with audiences at the FRIGID NY Festival.

Michelle Augello-Page’s Question
What do you hope the audience receives from the experience of seeing this show?
The Osatos: Joy! Love! Laughter! Hope! Thought! Thinking! Anything/Everything!

Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament of DEAAAAATH

THM Bonus Question – We’re serious this year!
In the THM virtual Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament of DEAAAAATH which FRIGID Show do you take on? And what do you throw?

The Osatos: Rabbit Island is the play we’d play, and we’d throw paper.

Very smart choice, Una and Michi!  Because while your opponent, Rabbit Island threw SCISSORS and struck you down in the Tournament of Deaaaaath you still have two more rounds to go …

Round two is Love in the time of Chlamydia who challenged everyone and threw ROCK.  That’s a WIN!

Round three is Initium/Finis who also challenged everyone and threw ROCK … another WIN!

Ding Ding Ding!  Do a victory lap Una and Michi because you got 2 victories out of 3 rounds!

Thanks LOL: The End for participating in The Happiest Medium’s FRIGID New York Festival 2012 Q&A. And for playing our game! Here’s the part where I usually say”You’re officially PAPER in any and all challenges.  You may win, you may not – who knows! This is how it works in the crazy world of the Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament of DEAAAAATH!”  but I don’t have to say that anymore becuase YOU were the LAST of the FRIGID Q&As!!!  SO– FROM EVERYONE HERE AT THE ROCK PAPER SCISSORS TOURNAMENT OF DEAAAAATH: LOL: THE END!

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The 2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL will run February 22-March 4 at The Kraine Theater & The Red Room (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Ave and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Ave and Ave A). Tickets to all shows may be purchased online at www.FRIGIDnewyork.info or by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444.

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• LOL:The End – Beginning And End (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
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JapJAP written and performed by Una Aya Osato (photo by Ari Issler)

When we first meet JapJAP (Una Aya Osato) she’s a green blob projected onto a screen – rolling around joyfully and joyously.  Cleverly, her projected image rolls from the screen in two dimensional form onto the stage in glorious 3-D.  This is a device that Osato will continue to use throughout the performance, and it serves her well; enabling her to be multi-dimensional as well as keep her characters separate.

On the stage JapJAP is a lovable creature – childlike, unblemished, a sweet creation of unknown origin who says nothing but “JapJAP”, not unlike a Pokemon says its own name over and over.  Clumsily, dizzily, happily dancing about in an effervescent homage to the unrestrained happiness that is an existence free of names, labels, classifications, designations and even further breakdowns, JapJAP appears to be content as is.  Soon enough, however, she is corralled by the Left and the Right – played by Osato’s Left Hand and her Right Hand – clad in Blue and Red satin gloves respectively (and appropriately).

Immediately the Hands want to classify her, figure her out, contain her, and label her.  What is she?  They go to various body parts for help.  The Stomach rumbles in mostly bits of Madison Avenue speak but grumbles just enough to identify JapJAP as a Jap . . . as in Japanese.  There is some talk of internment camps ( despite protests of “that’s a part of our history we’d like to forget”).  Soon enough the Hands decide to move on to pursue the matter further in a safer arena.

They then visit the Jewish twin sisters – Buubbie (played by Osato’s Right Breast) and Buubala (played by her Left Breast) who feel that JapJAP is a JAP – Jewish American Princess (though they’re not pleased with the term themselves).  Regardless, they feel she must be Jewish.  Talk turns to more serious matters as they delve into the topic of the political situation in the Middle East.  While the topic is heavy, it is definitely lighten when delivered by two jiggling breasts with thick Jew York accents.

The more labels JapJAP is forced to own the more her innocence and freedom disappears – she literally becomes weighed down by the enormous history of the past which is being pummeled upon her.

It is only when JapJAP gets a little pep talk from her knees that all becomes clear, and she is able to shed the labels (as well as most of her cloths) and once again claim the inner spirit of who she really is.

Smart, funny, and well done JapJAP has all the elements of a great solo show.  Osato is charming and delightful when mutely bouncing around the stage, but there’s no denying the deep thought she layered into her topic – behind that screen she’s all business.  A consummate performer with the energy and nerve to confront not only the tough issues, but to deliver the raw power of her own body.  All while teaching a strong lesson about labels.  Highly recommended.

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FRIGID New York Festival 2011 will run February 23-March 6 at The Kraine Theater & The Red Room (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Ave and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1sr Ave and Ave A). Tickets ($10-$16) may be purchased online at www.FRIGIDnewyork.info or by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444. All shows will run 60 minutes long or less.

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