Old-country customs can be embarrassing when your family moves to a place where people do things differently. Honolulu Theatre for Youth explores the clash of cultures in Hawaii from a Chinese perspective with playwright Alvin Chan’s semi-autobiographical play, "The Lion Dancer."

Hermen "Junior" Tesoro stars as Anson, a young Chinese-American boy who has a love-hate relationship with the culture of his foreign-born parents. Anson would rather play baseball than learn kung fu or practice lion dancing, and he feels stifled by the high expectations of his widower father. To make matters worse, Kimo, the big kid who bullies him at school, is the top student in his father’s kung fu class. Kimo gets to be the head when they practice lion dancing and Anson has to be the butt.

Anson’s best friend is a tomboy named Lani who defends him from Kimo and wants to study kung fu and lion dancing. Unfortunately for both of them, Anson’s father refuses to admit a female student.

The various conflicts build to a winner-take-all lion dance competition for a $1,000 cash prize that pits Anson’s father and Kimo against a mystery team that turns out to be Anson and Lani.

Playwright Chan, a Hawaii-born Chinese-American whose parents are from Hong Kong, portrays Anson’s father as a comic but sympathetic figure. He wants the best for his son and doesn’t understand why the boy prefers fitting in with the local kids to excelling academically, taking piano lessons, studying kung fu and becoming a champion lion dancer.

Tesoro distinguishes himself once again playing a misunderstood or mistreated youth. Maile Holck is appropriately endearing as the rough-edged local girl who protects Anson from Kimo.

Moses Goods (Kimo) is superb in the demanding role of the bully. A pidgin-speaking update on Eddie Haskell, Kimo is loud and aggressive, but only until someone challenges him. Goods has some of the funniest lines in the show and some good visual material as well. He was an instant hit with the youthful audience on opening night last week.

The children also screamed with delight at each bit of toilet humor and at phrases such as "butt kisser" and "doodoo pose."

Dealing with bullies is a recurring theme at HTY this season and "The Lion Dancer" picks up where "Anime Momotaro" left off. In HTY’s kinder and gentler version of the well-known Japanese fairy tale, Momotaro refused to fight, let alone kill, the bullies, er, demons, and instead gave them a share of the crops they had previously been taking by force.

"The Lion Dancer" shows kids other ways to handle bullies. In one scene, Lani hits Kimo in the face and breaks his nose. In another, she kicks him in the chest. Finally, after she and Anson have won the lion dance contest, they win his friendship by buying him a skateboard.