Slippery When Wet

SUZEN MURAKOSHI
BIO

Suzen Murakoshi, born in Aiea, Hawaii, received an MFA from the NYC New School Drama School in Playwriting and Acting in 1997. She credits Willy Reale and Felix Dennis for her playwriting successes. She has had a reading of SLIPPERY WHEN WET (SWW) at the NY Theatre Workshop, a workshop at Circle Rep, and full productions of SWW at the La MaMa Experimental Theatre, NYC, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, and most recently at the Penumbra Theatre Company in St. Paul, MN.

Other produced plays include SISTERS at Circle in the Square Downtown, NYC. Her short play, DUNNO, GOTTA GO was accepted and given a reading at the Edward Albee Theatre Conference in Valdez, Alaska, 2004.

Ms. Murakoshi has worked with the 52nd Street Project in New York City for many years as a writer, actor and director. While there, she co-wrote short plays with 'Genius Award" fellow, Willie Reale as well as having been directed as an actor by Oscar winner Frances McDormand.

As an accomplished performer, Ms. Murakoshi has worked on stages on Broadway, off-Broadway, in Europe, Canada and in American regional productions. Her favorite roles include “Juliet” in Romeo and Juliet at the Cleveland Playhouse and “Connie” in A Chorus Line on Broadway. She was nominated for an ‘Acting Excellence” award for her role as “Helen” in SWW at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

In 2007, Ms. Murakoshi was awarded a Mayoral Proclamation from Michael Bloomburg and the City of New York for her work with the Kids Project where she is the Artistic Director. The Kids Project performs free shows for the NYC area with a target audience of 90,000 children and adults annually.

She presently lives in the West Village in New York City with her two cats and partner, Mark Temme.

production photos at: //homepage.mac.com/suzen3/SWW/PhotoAlbum3.html

Read the VARIETY Review at: //variety.com/review/VE1117926174?categoryid=33&cs=1

If you'd like more info on SLIPPERY WHEN WET, contact me below. Press kits and full scripts are available. Thank you!

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Penumbra Theatre Company, MN production, 2005.

Theater review: 'Slippery' packs one big wallop

Rohan Preston, Star Tribune
February 7, 2005 PENUMBRA0207

There's a moment of convulsive lovemaking in "Slippery When Wet" when the characters' hearts and histories collide in one painful, high-pitch peel. They abruptly interrupt their union, tearing away in horror and recrimination. That scene, in which the feedback-style scream is provided by an off-stage musician, crystallizes both the artistry and courage of S.H. Murakoshi's romantic comedy, which opened Friday at St. Paul's Penumbra Theatre.

Aside from their ethnicities -- a big aside for African-American filmmaker Rakim (Desean Terry) and Asian-American dancer Helen (Katrina Toshiko) -- the characters are ordinary people who are terribly attracted to each other. They must shed things -- expectations, awkwardness, clothes -- before they can get to know each other. The process proves bitterly funny and difficult because of the family histories and stereotypes that buffet them like waves.

The show, in a fluid staging by Ching Valdes-Aran, offers in one evening of theater the kind of boldness people spend a lifetime trying to achieve. Instead of suppressing stereotypes -- a geisha here, an oversexed buck there -- "Slippery" piles them on with gusto.

Valdes-Aran deftly sets the action on a spare white-colored diamond, where the two actors navigate the sharp edges. A slanted mirror at the back of the stage reflects their actions. Family photos and abstract images are projected, sometimes seeming a tad literal.

Still, Valdes-Aran's direction supports, even elevates the text. "Slippery" opens with a kimono-clad woman who drops her articles as she speaks. This character who could be from the movies quickly sheds her kimono to reveal a contemporary woman clad in a tank top and jeans. The play's dramatic arsenal also includes hysterical asides and a fantasy life that is almost a truth-telling bubble for the characters.

It is a credit to Murakoshi that the play is so balanced, taking on the sticky, icky ethnic stereotypes that imprison Rakim and Helen with an unexpected evenhandedness. The versatility, charisma and chemistry of actors Toshiko and Terry make their onstage tension and attraction credible, aided by Mark Dougherty's expert lighting.

"Slippery" is leavened by its humor. The amusing touches reduce the sting of epithets that are given dramatic voice in a show that is well worth seeing.

IF YOU GO

Who: By S.H. Murakoshi. Directed by Ching Valdes-Aran. Produced by Lou Bellamy.

When: 2 & 8 p.m. Sat.; 2 & 7:30 p.m. Sun.; 7:30 p.m. Thurs.; 8 p.m. Fri. Through Feb. 27.

Where: Penumbra Theatre, Martin Luther King Center, 270 N. Kent St., St. Paul.

Tickets: $30-$55. 651-224-3180.

Rohan Preston is at rpreston@startribune.com.