The American life of the Suyama clan

Jean Davies Okimoto's funny, sometimes wistful play, "Uncle Hideki & the Empty Nest" (now at Theatre Off Jackson), gives rare insight into the daunting journey of finding oneself, especially when faced with the warring traditions of two cultures. The Suyama family's awkward situations are often defused by comedy, creating many laugh-out-loud moments as the characters slog through the sticky entanglements of family ties. Time and again, Davies Okimoto's strong writing comes through, despite uneven performances.

Because the well-developed characters lend multiple dimensions to the play, award-winning children's-book-writer Davies Okimoto touches on issues as varied as homosexuality, retirement, second marriages and life dreams. The action takes place in Seattle, and Davies Okimoto, who now lives on Vashon Island, shows she is thoroughly familiar with the landscape.

The piece is also unusual in that a quirky, menopausal Japanese-American woman (Helen Suyama, played by Eloisa Cardona) takes center stage. And with just a handful of characters, all members of the tumultuous Suyama clan, "Uncle Hideki & the Empty Nest" taps into many universal truths about what it takes to be a woman — in the myriad roles of mother, daughter, wife.

This sequel to 1995's "Uncle Hideki" finds Helen married to Jack (Dennis Kleinsmith), a "hakujin," or white person. Their condo near Pike Place Market seems more like a boarding house for her grown children, Rodney (Dom Chan) and Suzanne (Virginia Gabby), and even the grumpy Uncle Hideki, Helen's father's estranged brother from L.A. (The two fought over the family sword and a name change — Hideki prefers the original Suzuyama.)

Director David Hsieh's simple set of Helen and Jack's condo works well for the character-driven play.

Herb Tsuchiya's performance as Uncle Hideki, which is both endearing and annoying, gives an almost-too accurate portrayal of the grumbling Asian elder (every good Asian-American child's nightmare) who is impossible to please no matter how you kowtow. As Helen, Cardona stumbled over her lines many times. And although she only appears in a few scenes, Gabby, who initially seemed flustered at being on stage, settled down midway through the play.

Judy Chia Hui Hsu: 206-464-3315 or jhsu@seattletimes.com