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<\/a>The play concerns a formerly prosperous sushi restaurant run by veteran sushi maker and owner steeped in the tradition, Koji (James Saito). Koji\u2019s is located in a once thriving, now declining neighborhood in which most of the other businesses, including the print shop that did his first menu, have closed or moved on. The only competitor is an upstart sushi restaurant that serves trendy appetizers and dessert. People are flocking there and abandoning Koji, who doesn\u2019t take any bluefin before its prime from the local tuna dealer.<\/p>\n
Getting on in years but unwilling to admit it, Koji has trouble keeping employees, who apprentice for many years before being allowed to wield the knife in any serious capacity. Of some longevity is Takashi (Tim Chiou), who has served as Koji\u2019s apprentice for nearly 20 years \u2014 all but one, in which he went to the U.S. to be with his ailing mother. Not quite so dedicated is Nobu (Raymond Lee), who is more forward-looking than traditional.<\/p>\n When an apprentice doesn\u2019t show up, two hopefuls apply for the job. Koji hires the male, played by Jim Norman Schneider, a masterful physical comedian whose character has \u201cissues\u201d to say the least and who does not last more than a few days. Schneider adeptly plays all the other young males in the play, including the Tuna Dealer apprentice.<\/p>\n The other job applicant is Ama Miyuki (Tina Chilip), who returns determined to overturn the unwritten no-woman-in-sushi tradition. Miyuki also portrays another woman \u2014 one of symbolic importance, also named Ama \u2014 who haunts Koji\u2019s long, early morning bike rides to the fish market.<\/p>\n The actors have forged a tight ensemble, never over-stressing to make a point. Lee\u2019s delicate, affecting text and the age-old juxtaposition of tradition vs. progress are allowed to unfold at a stately pace, that is, until a strange occurrence changes everything.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>