OCT Announces Post-Show Panel Discussions For THE JOURNAL OF BEN UCHIDA

Oregon Children's Theatre (OCT), Oregon's largest non-profit professional theater for young audiences, has added two evening performances and panel discussions to its run of The Journal of Ben Uchida: Citizen 13559, now playing at the Winningstad Theatre.

Adapted for the stage by influential Japanese-American playwright Naomi Iizuka and originally commissioned by the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the show chronicles the experiences of 12-year-old Ben Uchida and his family after the issuance of Executive Order 9066 by President Roosevelt in 1942, which authorized the imprisonment and relocation of over 110,000 Japanese-American citizens during World War II. While the subject matter is mature, the show is still appropriate for many young audience members.

"Kids are more aware of what's going on in the world than we were when we were growing up," says Director Dmae Roberts. "It's a children's show, but I consider it a whole family show... [it] deals with very real subjects - the disintegration of a family because of circumstance, how kids are often kept in the dark. This isn't just a play about history, it's about not repeating history."

Roberts is assisted in this production by Movement Consultant, Chisao Hata. A third generation Japanese-American, Hata is an artist educator, dance director, arts integration specialist, community activist and performing artist whose art has shared the Japanese American perspective both locally, nationally and internationally. Hata's art installation "Remember Us" is on display in the lobby of the Winningstad Theatre and pays tribute to the families who were incarcerated. Historical information is also on display, courtesy of the Japanese American Museum of Oregon.

Because of its timely significance, OCT will be offering two Friday evening 7:00 PM performances on March 6 and March 13, which will include a live panel discussion, facilitating a conversation about the impact of American concentration camps on families then and now.

This discussion will be moderated by Hata; panelists will include Linda Tamura, Joni Nakayama Kimoto, Lauren Yoshiko Terry, A'misa Chiu, and George Nakata. Information about the panelists can be found on the OCT website at octc.org/blog-directory/meet-the-cast-ben- uchida/#panelists.

The performance features Ken Yoshikawa as Ben Uchida, David Loftus as Masao Uchida, Sumi Wu as Lily Uchida, and Jenna Yokoyama as Naomi Uchida. Jonathan Miles and Paige Rogers join the cast playing a variety of other characters.

In addition to Roberts and Hata, the creative team includes John Kashiwabara (Scenic Designer), Jennifer Lin (Lighting Designer), Lawrence Siulagi (Sound Designer), Victoria Alvarez-Chacon (Props Designer), Wanda Walden (Costume Designer), Kristen Mun (Fight Choreographer), Linda Tamura (Dramaturg), Samson Syharath (Associate Director), Amanda Vander Hyde (Stage Manager), Rachel Millena (Assistant Stage Manager), and Ian Anderson-Priddy (Production Electrician).

OCT's educational partnership with Kaiser Permanente, the Educational Theatre Program, is currently offering free, in-school workshops to schools attending field trips for this performance. These hour-long workshops serve to provide historical context for Japanese incarceration and invite students to consider what exclusion looks and feels like, and how to practice inclusivity in their community. During these workshops, students are invited to create paper origami cranes, which will be collected and sent to Tsuru for Solidarity, in support of their mission to end detention sites and support front-line immigrant and refugee communities.

Tsuru for Solidarity will also be represented at select performances, folding and collecting cranes with audience members. More information about Tsuru for Solidarity can be found on their website: tsuruforsolidarity.org.

Tickets are on sale now, starting at $15 with group rates available. To purchase or learn more, call the box office at 503-228-9571 or visit www.octc.org

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