FAREWELL TO MANZANAR, Premiere XXXX, 2005, Los Angeles Public Library
Produced By Cornerstone Theater Company
Synopsis
Follow Jeanne Wakatsuki on her journey through the Manzanar concentration camp during World War II, when the US government robbed over 120,000 Japanese Americans of their civil rights. Actors Page Leong and Leslie Ishii bring this landmark memoir to vivid life, in an adaptation filled with elegant stagecraft, bracing video, and magical puppetry.
Staff
Original Book by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston
Adapted by Cynthia Gates Fujikawa
Directed by Christopher Liam Moore
Produced by Laurie Woolery
Scenic & Costume Design by Shigeru Yaji;
Lighting Design by Lonnie Rafael Alcaraz;
Puppet Design by Lynn Jeffries;
Sound Design by Paul James Prendergast;
Video Design by John Crawford
Cast
Subsequent Performances or Productions
Revived in late 2006, including special performances at the Japanese National Museum...Presented in conjunction with the Japanese American National Museum installation of the exhibition Ansel Adams at Manzanar, organized by the Honolulu Academy of Arts.
Special Notes
Remounted:
OCTOBER 10-NOVEMBER 9, 2006
LOS ANGELES CENTRAL LIBRARY
NOVEMBER 16-DECEMBER 3, 2006
DEMOCRACY FORUM
(Notes from Cornerstone Newsletter)
This past fall, we remounted Farewell to Manzanar, a landmark 1972 memoir about the Japanese American internment experience, written by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston and adapted for stage by Cynthia Gates Fujikawa. Cornerstone Founding Member Christopher Liam Moore directed actresses Page Leong and Leslie Ishii in the simple yet powerful two-woman performance. Over 4,000 students attended and participated in post-show discussions exploring why this history is important, whether or not internment could happen again in America, the current war in Iraq, immigration issues, racism, what happens when people aren?t seen as individuals and ways in which we can learn to see each other as individuals. In partnership with the Japanese American National Museum, we also presented a limited engagement of the play at the stunning new Democracy Forum, located inside the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy.
Hundreds of people across Los Angeles came to see the performances, which were held in conjunction with the Ansel Adams at Manzanar photography exhibition at the
Japanese American National Museum.
Articles, Reviews, and other Links
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.