tribune review

A grassy knoll on Washington's Landing provides a zen-like outdoor setting for Quantum Theatre's production of Naomi Iizuka's drama "36 Views."

The Allegheny River island location separates us from the workaday world with a timeless quality that allows us to contemplate big questions of what's authentic, who's sincere or telling the truth and how to judge the true value of art with a fast-paced story of romance, intrigue and suspense.

As the sun sets, the lights come up on scenic designer Tony Ferrieri's elegant, minimalist set of white Japanese-style panels onto which are projected Carolina Loyola-Garcia's images of Asian art treasures. Sound designer Zachary Brown supports the Asian ambiance with a mix of Japanese instruments that serves as bridges between scenes as well as punctuation marks for scenes and actions.

"36 Views" refers to Japanese artist Hokusai's woodblock series of multiple views of Mount Fuji as well as the three dozen ancient Japanese poetesses, one of whom might have inspired the play. It also subtly suggests that the angle from which you experience something affects how you perceive reality.

Iizuka's play is set in the seemingly glamorous worlds of art, academics and antiquities, where the difference between a genuine artwork and a fake often depends on whose authority you trust, who spins the better story or what truth makes you happiest.

She also examines our capacity for self-deception and our willingness to buy into the dreams of true love, achievable fame or fast money.

At the center of the story is Darius Wheeler, a dealer in Asian antiquities who's deft at acquiring objects of incredible beauty, shifting them across borders and into the hands of willing collectors and increasing their desirability with a tale of adventure and intrigue.

Wheeler is a busy man. He's offered an opportunity to turn a buck by helping someone illegally acquire a national treasure and almost simultaneously discovers a rare manuscript written by a Heian period (roughly 11th century) Japanese female writer.

What follows is a fast-paced, involving tale that requires careful listening and commitment. Quantum Theatre artistic director Karla Boos directs with a precision that allows us to absorb the multiple story threads and character agendas, but also swiftly moves the events along to a conclusion that -- once experienced -- appears as inevitable as it is surprising.

The six characters are uniformly interesting, complex and highly entertaining.

At the center of the story is the relationship that develops between Matthew Gray's Darius Wheeler, who is as engaging as he is amoral, and Rebecca Hirota's Setsuko Hearn, a smart and likable scholar hoping to make her career through her study of the newly discovered manuscript.

Adding layers to the tale is the relationship between Wheeler's learned but willingly subservient assistant, John Bell, played by Jason Martin, and Claire Tsong, a multimedia artist unimpressed by the commercial side of art. Actress Shammen McCune plays Tsong with refreshingly outspoken skepticism and acerbic wit. Robert Haley adds interest and necessary context as the veteran academic Owen Matthiassen, as does Tressa Glover as Elizabeth Newman-Orr, the young journalist who serves as go-between for the illicit deal Wheeler undertakes.

They are each possessed of individual secrets and agendas that interweave into a multi-layered plot of mystery, romance and adventure that lends personal consequences to the abstract ideas under exploration.

Even those who pay attention will find the conclusion arrives with one or two unexpected revelations and generates issues that encourage future deliberation.