For the latest version of #5 The Angry Red Drum, a play that addresses the effects of war on our psyches and culture, Philip Kan Gotanda did the writing in conjunction with the play’s rehearsals at UC Davis.

As the fall quarter’s Granada Artist-in-Residence in the Department of Theatre and Dance, the internationally acclaimed playwright is directing UC Davis students in the play’s first staging. It opened Nov. 20 in Main Theatre.

The play tells the story of conjoined brothers who are separated. They meet again by chance encounter, and attempt to reconstruct the story of their lost brotherhood.

#5 The Angry Red Drum takes place during Earth’s end-time when lost souls wander aimlessly in search of purpose.

Two strangers are drawn to each other, for an inexplicable reason. That is, until the appearance of a character from their dreams and two refugees from a dying democracy. Then the “strangers” realize they are brothers.

Told in minimalist fashion, the play reverberates with darkness and destruction while archetypical characters, including Pick, Goram, Cigarette Girl, Backwards Soldier, Dark Angel and Truman, convey humor through words and deeds.

The apocalyptic setting and tone of #5 The Angry Red Drum grew out of Gotanda’s anxiety and frustration with the Bush administration and reflect his keen admiration for Samuel Beckett’s absurdist work Waiting for Godot.

Gotanda’s inspiration for the play’s title came out of a visit he made to the Davis burger joint Redrum—which is murder spelled backwards.

“#5 refers to the play’s sequence in my Garage Band Series,” Gotanda said. “The GBS is about approaching a work both in its writing and in its staging with the main objective of just getting the work out. Not allowing details like money, second-guessing, self-doubt and common sense to stand in the way.

“Thus, in the writing of #5 The Angry Red Drum, I allowed it to tumble out without my usual critical eye cutting away some of the raw stuffiness of it and allowing the dots connecting traditional narrative to have wider gaps than usual.”

With this unfettered creative process, #5 The Angry Red Drum pushes the bounds of storytelling and aesthetics in a multilayered theatre experience.

Doctoral candidate Dylan Bolles provides unusual live music, creating an end-time sound scape with throatlike singing and homemade and found instruments, including drums, flutes, gongs and whisks.

Said Bolles: “The most striking aspect of this production is the interplay among choreography, sound and storytelling. There’s an uncommon flexibility of design elements in which the script is just one player.”

Choreography by Erika Chong Shuch provides actor intention and defines character, literally helping tell the tale.

Costumes are yet another design dimension fueling the production. Costume designer and Master of Fine Arts candidate Wenting Gao said: “I researched American Asian culture and post-war sociology. There is some sophistication in how such frustration and conflict can influence people’s daily wear and behavior. In #5 The Angry Red Drum, my costumes exaggerate and focus this to reveal a certain kind of contrast and tension.”

The cast includes M.F.A. candidate Amy Louise Cole and undergraduate Bryan Marcus Pham in the lead roles of brothers Goram and Pick.

“The Angry Red Drum is a nonlinear, abstract play, and was at first challenging to approach,” Pham said. “Philip’s direction and work ethic has not only helped me understand my character, but has also expanded my imagination and helped me grow as an actor.”

The UC Davis concept artists include M.F.A. candidates Jamie Kumpf, scenic designer; and Tony Shayne, lighting designer; and undergraduates Robert Quiggle, stage manager; Matt Rapore, video designer; and Christian Savage, sound designer.

PHILIP KAN GOTANDA

Over the last three decades, playwright Philip Kan Gotanda has been a major influence in the broadening of our definition of theater in America. Through his plays and advocacy, he has been instrumental in bringing stories of Asians in the United States to mainstream American theatre as well as to Europe and Asia. The author of one of the largest bodies of Asian American-themed work, his plays are studied and performed at universities and schools across the country.

Beyond his thematic work, Gotanda is known for experimenting with a range of aesthetic styles and a willingness to collaborate with a variety of forms ranging from dance to symphonic, jazz to spoken word, new theater to film.

Gotanda created the text and directed the production of Maestro Kent Nagano’s Manzanar: An American Story, an original symphonic work with narration.

In association with San Francisco-based Campo Santo, Gotanda wrote and directed A Fist of Roses, a performance exploration of male violence, through text and movement.

He wrote and performed In the Dominion of Night, a full-length, spoken word play with the retro jazz ensemble The New Orientals.

His work After The War recently premiered at the American Conservatory Theatre. The play chronicles San Francisco’s Japantown in the late 1940s when Japanese Americans returned from World War II internment camps and encountered a flourishing African American jazz scene.

Gotanda also is a respected independent filmmaker, with his works being shown in festivals around the world. His most recent film, Life Tastes Good, was presented at the Sundance Film Festival and can be seen on the Independent Film Channel.

AT A GLANCE

WHAT: #5 The Angry Red Drum, written and directed by UC Davis Granada Artist-in-Residence Philip Kan Gotanda

WHEN: 8 p.m. Nov. 20-22 and Dec. 4-6, and 2 p.m. Nov. 23

WHERE: Main Theatre

ADVISORY: This production contains adult language. It is not recommended for youth under 14 years of age.

TICKETS: (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787, or www.mondaviarts.org

Janice Bisgaard is publicity director for the Department of Theatre and Dance.