THEATER REVIEW : Starkness Chokes the Life Out of ‘Kitamura’ : The enigmatic production, now on stage at UCI, suffers from a lack of emotion and an awkward script.

The centerpiece of “The Dream of Kitamura,” now on stage in UC Irvine’s studio theater, is an enigmatic ritual in which a woman pouring tea is arrested by a mysterious agony. Over and over, she attempts to complete her private ceremony, her movements ghosted by two choral figures dressed in white.

Like much of this production, directed as a master’s-of-fine-arts thesis project by Shelley Souza, the tea dance, meticulously choreographed to a New Age soundtrack, has a mesmerizing starkness. It shows a strong directorial hand--one that has, unfortunately, choked the life out of this bloody and passionate karmic fable.

In a prologue to the play’s events, we’re supposed to learn that long ago a couple was murdered during a robbery and the couple’s infant child was rescued by a witness to the crime. But the prologue, so essential to the revelations of the evening, is incomprehensible.

As the play begins, we meet a tyrannical patriarch who has recurrent dreams of an undefined figure (called Kitamura) who is coming to kill him, his silent wife, his tempestuous daughter and the two bodyguards who have been hired to secure the estate from the phantom enemy. All are intimately involved with the previous tragedy (although these connections are perversely concealed from the audience,) and the story chronicles the irrevocable course of revenge. There is also a chorus of two, quaintly billed as the Karmic Kids.

The script itself, by Philip Kan Gotanda, has the awkwardness of a bad translation. It is torn between relentless tragedy and an irrepressible desire to generate laughs. Consequently, portentous dramatic exchanges sometimes end in quips such as “See you later, alligator.”

Director Souza’s coldhearted approach to the material relies on vaguely realized, non-Western theatricalities of pseudo-Oriental costumes and non-specific, unnatural movement. There seems to be an edict in effect that emoting is forbidden, as most of the acting is dry and pinched and defies human psychology.

Jane Spigarelli, as the daughter, cannot completely contain her natural fire, and she sizzles in spite of the directorial straitjacket.

Buck Stevens as the elder bodyguard has a physical easiness that refuses to be starched, and Sonya Sweeney as the mother has a pleasantly low voice that adds maturity to her characterization, which is otherwise suffocated by the overwhelming severity of the atmosphere.

The set is a dramatic and striking scape of narrow platforms, fashioned of rough-hewn logs set upon uncertain towers of flagstone. They form a ruined staircase surrounded by a black lake, with benches and mats for the audience on three sides. The beautiful design, by Lucia M. Cipriano, is colorlessly lit by Ellery J. Brown and largely wasted on this bloodless production.

‘THE DREAM OF KITAMURA’

Drama at UCI, Stage 2 Productions presentation of a Philip Kan Gotanda play. Directed by Shelley Souza. With Sonya Sweeney, Trent Bright, Buck Stevens, Mikael Salazar, Jane Spigarelli, Kira Spreng, and Andrew Wesson. Scenic design by Lucia M. Cipriano. Costume design by Sandra Sykora. Lighting design by Ellery J. Brown. Original music by Stephen Cox. Stage management by Steven McDonald. Plays today at 2 and 8 p.m. Tickets: $7. At Fine Arts Studio Theatre, UCI. (714) 856-5000.