Unromantic Comedy
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

Malign them as you will: Writers of romantic comedies have a very hard job. Even with the ending a given, they must somehow delay the final romantic chord long enough to make a work of art. It sounds like the fluffiest possible form, but in the right hands, the formula can yield “Pride and Prejudice” or “Cyrano de Bergerac.”
Michael Golamco takes “Cyrano” as his pattern for “Cowboy v. Samurai,” a completely adorable addition to the genre.The play chronicles the dilemma of a young Asian paramour in love with a Korean woman who says she’s only attracted to white guys.
The National Asian American Theatre Company production nails the “comedy” part of this story, but director Lloyd Suh seems to have failed Romance 101. Out of four actors on stage, the best chemistry is wasted on male friends – the hero and his love fizzle.
Travis (Joel de la Fuente) likes his job in Breakneck,Wyoming. He may be one of only two Asians in town,but he enjoys the small town vibe and tossing a ball around with his cowboy buddy Del (Timothy Davis). The other Asian in Breakneck, the confused militant Chester (C.S. Lee), keeps trying to enlist Travis for nutty schemes (the worst involves a KKK hood and a golden railroad spike) so they can assert their Asian brotherhood. Sadly, Chester can’t be more specific – due to an adoption mix-up, he doesn’t know his actual ethnicity. Instead, he changes it to suit the occasion.
Travis is the level-headed one here, but he also seems terribly alone. Enter Veronica (Hana Moon), a gorgeous Korean American who immediately lays him low. She has enough quirks for a dozen romantic comedies: a bit of a nerd, she collects lottery tickets but never scratches them, and, right, she only dates Caucasians. Del has the all-American look (and pick-up) she wants, but Travis has the brains. Soon Travis is penning love notes for Del, letting the hick take credit for his effusions – just the sort of ruse that never lasts too long.
While Mr. Golamco’s charming, strange love letters sound lovely, the play looks shabby. Designer Sarah Lambert’s charming blue-wood surround starts out well, but a rickety classroom set and an awkwardly positioned chair shove much of the action into claustrophobic corners. Romances, unless written by David Mamet, don’t usually benefit from bleak surroundings.
Mr. de la Fuente manages the “diffident heartthrob” look with aplomb, but he never shows us Travis’s ache. Despite a couple of sudden outbursts, Travis’s most emotional moments still sound like lines. And Ms. Moon’s enormously chilly performance certainly puts the kibosh on any heat between them. Indeed, in scenes with Ms. Moon, the two of them could be reading cue cards being held up in the wings.
Just as in Jane Austen, though, the secondary characters save the day. Chester’s entirely bizarre fight for recognition and ethnic solidarity steals nearly every scene. Mr. Lee turns his two-dimensional bit of comic relief into the emotional center of the play. Mr. Davis, meanwhile, stuck with playing “dumb,” has a steeper hill to climb. But by the end, Chester and Del strike up a “beautiful friendship” that eclipses the other couple completely.
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