Not to worry if you don’t know much about Japanese cartoon artist Osamu Tezuka, better known as “The God of Comics” by his adoring fans. Studio Theatre can explain everything you need to know in 70 minutes in its taut, whimsical “Astro Boy and the God of Comics.”
Born in 1928 in Osaka, Japan, Tezuka studied medicine, but his real love was drawing. He became a well-known manga artist while still in medical school, creating his most famous character, Astro Boy, in 1952. A crime-fighting boy robot with a heart of gold, Astro Boy was a hit in print and even more so later on television.
Studio Theatre will tell you all this, but in reverse order, in Natsu Onoda Power’s highly imaginative work, which brings Astro Boy to life using film, onstage drawing, still projections and animation.
| On stage |
| ‘Astro Boy and the God of Comics’ |
| » Where: Studio Theatre, 1501 14th St. NW |
| » When: Through March 11 |
| » Info: $38 to $43; 202-332-3300; studiotheatre.org |
The play starts in 2014, when Astro Boy sacrifices his life to save the Earth, which is being destroyed by the sun’s radiation. Then it quickly spins back in time to depict nine earlier episodes, including Tezuka’s death in 1989, Astro Boy’s introduction to television as an animated series in 1963, the creation of Astro Boy, the writing of Tezuka’s first famous book and Tezuka’s birth.
Along the way, a group of talented artists embellish the main narrative of Tezuka’s life, portraying the artist, people who knew him or were influenced by him. Clark Young, who plays Tezuka, Betsy Rosen, who plays his wife, and J.B. Tadena, who plays Maestro, are especially impressive.
The show is appealing particularly because it looks and feels the way comic books and animations look and feel, which is understandable because Power, an expert on Tezuka, is also the director. Her knowledge of cartooning makes credible a manic script that speeds freely, sometimes without logical connection, from scenes of war and death to moments of slapstick and hilarity.
On Luciana Stecconi’s set, shaped like an old-fashioned television screen, the rear wall is made of paper for drawing. Much of the time, actors stand behind a scrim and pretend to draw cartoon characters. Jared Mezzocchi’s projection design and Andrew Griffin’s lighting animate those drawings.
Karen O’Connell is winning as Astro Boy, appearing cheerily in the flesh before flying off to save endangered earthlings. Frank Labovitz has designed a classic outfit for Astro Boy, including his familiar peaked black cap and his bright red boots.
“Astro Boy” may not turn you into a fan of Tezuka’s art or of the manga style of drawing. But it can’t help but make you warm to a certain robot with a jetpack and an IQ of 300, who fervently believes his “mission is to save humans.”
