East West Players in association with the Japanese American National Museum presents a Writers Gallery reading of “A Cage of Fireflies,” written by Daniel Akiyama and directed by Phyllis S. K. Look, on Thursday, March 21, at 7:30 p.m. at JANM’s Tateuchi Democracy Forum, First Street and Central Avenue in Little Tokyo.
The cast: Dian Kobayashi, Emily Kuroda, Sharon Omi, and Jeanne Sakata. The assistant director/stage manager is David Johann Kim.
The story of three elderly sisters of the Kibei generation: sent as children to be raised in Okinawa, then returned to live and work in Hawaii. Two of the sisters confine themselves to their Honolulu apartment, where they enact the rituals of daily life and dream of one day returning to Okinawa. The third, charged with running their family’s orchid nursery, embraces the modern world and disrupts her family’s fragile traditions. As long-hidden hopes, resentments, and regrets surface, the sisters must confront the nature of their love for each other.
“A Cage of Fireflies,” which recently premiered at Kumu Kahua Theatre in Honolulu to critical acclaim and a sold-out extended run, explores the tug-of-war between progress and preservation, the selfish and the selfless.
Admission is free. To RSVP, click here.
Akiyama was born and raised in Honolulu and graduated from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. “A Cage of Fireflies,” his first full-length play, was developed at the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab and was a finalist for the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference.
Look was a member of Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s artistic staff, co-artistic director of Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and freelance director. Her work has been produced at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center Institute, Young Playwrights Festival, Berkeley Rep, Magic Theatre, Asian American Theater Company, Syracuse Stage, Alliance Theatre, Mixed Blood, Seattle Children’s Theatre, and Honolulu Theatre for Youth, among others.
She directed the developmental workshop of “A Cage of Fireflies” at Sundance Institute’s 2012 Theatre Lab, and its world premiere production at Kumu Kahua Theatre. Look holds an MFA in directing from Yale School of Drama and is the recipient of a TCG/NEA Director Fellowship. She was born and raised in Honolulu, where she currently resides.