The Jaded Assassin

The experience of watching The Jaded Assassin is akin to viewing a particularly lame B-movie. It’s easy to spot the flaws and wish for it to be better, but at the same time it remains something of a guilty pleasure. Director Timothy Haskell has previously helmed parodic stage adaptations of the ’80s movies Road House and Fatal Attraction, and he brings a similar kitschy sensibility to his work on this original script (conceived by Haskell and penned by Michael Voyer). Unfortunately, the production isn’t as sharp as it needs to be, and a lot of it just doesn’t work.

The story, such as it is, revolves around Soon Jal (Jo-Anne Lee), the adopted daughter of a clan of warriors, most of whom have died of a mysterious plague. In addition to her fighting prowess, Soon Jal has a lot of anger issues which her job as a mercenary lets her work out. However, when she stumbles upon a land under the spell of a war curse, she refuses to fight needlessly. Soon enough, she’s off on a quest to undo the curse, accompanied by her servant Ouyang Feng (Aaron Haskell) and a helpful wizard (Nick Arens).

The main emphasis of the production is placed upon the fight sequences, choreographed by Rod Kinter. The actors battle with fists, swords, knives, sais, pikes, morningstars, and more. Yet, while they demonstrate a certain level of skill and athleticism, the fights lack the precision and muscle control necessary to really wow the audience.

The dialogue is fairly minimal, with most of the story told directly to the audience by a narrator (Laine D’Souza), who eventually becomes part of the tale that she’s telling. The script borrows heavily from traditional hero’s journey-type narratives, as well as the conventions of Hong Kong action flicks and similar genres. The show obviously intends to poke fun of itself, as well as its pop culture influences, yet lacks the wit required to bring it to the next level.

Still, there are clever moments. Haskell proves quite resourceful in finding low-budget solutions to substitute for cinematic special effects. The use of shadow puppetry serves as an amusing way to put a different perspective on the action. Sight gags, such as fake legs to give the impression that a character is flying through the air (a la Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) are also nicely done.

All of the major fight scenes are accompanied by hard-driving rock tunes such as “Welcome to the Jungle,” by Guns ‘N’ Roses. Other sequences are scored by onstage musician Malika Duckworth, who plays the taiko drum and cymbals.

The style of the show makes it difficult to judge the acting. Much of the time, the performers simply mime melodramatic facial and body expressions to mirror the narrator’s words. Since the characters are purposely written as parodies of familiar archetypes, there’s not a lot of complexity to them; there doesn’t even seem to have been an attempt by writer, director or actors to endow their creations with any depth. This becomes fodder for a few cheap laughs — and there’s no denying that the audience at the performance I attended seemed to be having a good time — but it’s this very flatness that ultimately prevents The Jaded Assassin from achieving a greater level of success.