Blood

Reviewed by Lovell Estell III
Ruby Theater at the Complex
Re-opened & Extended through December 18th

RECOMMENDED

In the early 1980s, some two-thousand hemophilia patients in Japan contracted HIV via unsafe blood products. When it was over, the “Japanese tainted blood scandal,” would result in the criminal prosecution and convictions of pharmaceutical executives, as well as a raft of lawsuits brought by the victims and their families against government health officials.

The incident is the inspiration for this stirring political thriller, a world premiere with music, written and directed by theater veteran Robert Allan Ackerman (with music and songs by Nick Ackerman and Chris Cester).

After many years — and in the wake of a bad marriage and loss of a child — Jules (Alexa Hamilton), a freelance journalist, returns to Japan on assignment and reconnects with Ken (Takuma Anzai), who finds her an apartment. Not long after this, he winds up isolated and alone in a hospital, and suddenly dies.

Jules’ incessant inquiries about his death, and her subsequent stonewalling by the authorities, leads her on an unsettling quest to uncover the truth. It doesn’t help that Japan is a country where anything abnormal is considered shameful, and there is a prevailing belief that “pure blooded” Japanese are immune to Western diseases like AIDS. She is helped by Yoji (Sohee Park), a lawyer and a friend of Ken’s, who informs her that Ken had been a hemophiliac and had undergone treatment.

The ugly conspiracy they eventually unmask — the intentional distribution of HIV tainted blood — places them at odds with a secretive cabal of businessmen and officials, and the sinister Dr. Kazama (Toshi Toda), head of Japan’s Hemophilia Society.

Ackerman stages this show in energetic, stylish, “big canvas” fashion. From the opening report of the Japanese wooden clappers, until the final scene, the show maintains an alluring atmosphere (Kabuki masks and traditional face painting are also used).

Dona Granata’s trio of large mobile screens serve effectively to suggest multiple locales as well as backcloths for Hana S. Kim’s array of video projections. Ackerman and Cester’s vibrant music threads its way through the show, establishing a subtle emotional balance. The songs are by turns lively, haunting, provocative and funny, especially “We’re the Ministers of Nippon,” where ensemble members don Charlie Chaplin costumes and perform chorus-line style. Performances are uniformly impressive under Ackerman’s fine direction.

Ruby Theater at the Complex, 6476 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun. 3 p.m.; Extended through December 18th. (323) 960-7745 or www.plays411.com/blood Running time: 2 hour and, 15 minutes with one 15 minute intermission.