Dmae features two productions created by women. First up we talk with Beth Harper, artistic director who founded of Portland Actors Conservatory more than 25 years ago. Today PAC is producing not only multicultural works but also young actors, many of color, who go on to contribute to Portland’s theatre community. We’ll learn more about PAC and their next production Good Kids by Naomi Iizuka which runs​ April 13- 29 at the Shoebox Theatre. And in the second part of the show, I feature Gambatte Be Strong, a work created by Chisao Hata & Nikki Nojima Louis that explores Portland’s Japanese-American Internment history. We’ll talk with KBOO’s own Jenna Yokoyama who is performing as an actor in the production on April 14th at Lewis and Clark College.

(Aired 11am 3/27/18 on KBOO 90.7 FM or always on stagenstudio.com and always on  iTunes)

Beth Harper
Beth Harper

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Good Kids

by Naomi Iizuka
directed by Beth Harper

​April 13- 29

Shoebox Theatre
2110 SE 10th Avenue, Portland, Oregon.
For tickets visit: http://pac.edu/good-kids.html

A high school party goes horribly awry in this exploration of multiple perspectives in the aftermath of a sex crime and its cover-up. The questions of consent, intent, rumor and gossip take center stage as anywhere, America grapples with the consequences of their actions and inaction.

​Good Kids is the first work of a New Play Initiative established by the Big Ten Theatre Consortium.
This collaboration among theatre departments will commission, produce, and publicize a series of
new plays by female playwrights, with the goal of creating strong female roles.

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GAMBATTE BE STRONG

Stories of Japanese American Displacement & Resilience in Portland
 Created by Chisao Hata & Nikki Nojima Louis

Presented by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion
And the Graduate School Center for Community Engagement

Saturday, April 14th, 2018, 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Agnes Flanagan Chapel, Lewis and Clark College

More info: https://www.lclark.edu/live/events/284142-what-does-justice-look-like-part-iv—gambatte-be

Running time: 1 hour with an audience talkback

Jenna Yokoyama
Jenna Yokoyama

The immigrant journey of the Japanese in Oregon is paved with stories of perseverance and courage.  Gambatte Be Strong is the rallying cry for an original reading of the little known stories of the return of Japanese Americans to Oregon after their incarceration during WW II.

Seventy-six years ago, the signing of Executive Order 9066 led to incarceration of 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, the majority of whom were American citizens.  Looking like the “enemy” led to denial of their human rights and violation of their civil rights by their own country.  These hard-working community people were suddenly forcibly removed from their homes and livelihoods.

First, they were taken to assembly centers in Portland, an area known as the Livestock Pavilion, that became their home for three to five months, then moved secretly to government prison camps in remote desert areas of America.  Following the war, with no homes and their Nihonmachi (Japantown) community destroyed, many either left Oregon or relocated to Vanport.  In 1947, the Vanport Flood brought death and destruction to its residents.  Once again, the Issei of Portland and their American-born children found themselves displaced, living in designated “race” areas of the city but continuing to pursue The American Dream.