SAN FRANCISCO — The Ferocious Lotus Theatre Company will present a reading of “After the War” by Philip Kan Gotanda, directed by May Liang, on Saturday, Dec. 7, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, 1840 Sutter St. in San Francisco Japantown.
The play takes place in the aftermath of World War II in San Francisco’s Western Addition, where some Japanese Americans returned from the camps. African Americans who came to San Francisco were seeking work, white Southern migrants were looking for economic opportunity, and Russian Jews were arriving to start new lives. All the characters struggle to get along with limited resources while trying to find their place in this mix of cultures.
Central character Chet Monkawa is a jazz trumpeter who returns to his family’s rooming house after the internment, but his old neighborhood isn’t the same. The rooming house is now filled with new transplants, and Chet and his fellow boarders must find a new harmony amidst uncertain times.
The cast: Ogie Zulueta as Chet Monkawa, Dorian Lockett as Earl T. Worthing, Lindsay Hirata as Lillian Okamura, Rebecca Pingree as Mary-Louise Tucker, Cathleen Riddley as Leona Hitchings, Greg Ayers as Mr. Oji/Mr. Goto, Maria Leigh as Olga Michaels/Benji Tucker.
The event is also a holiday fundraiser for Ferocious Lotus. To RSVP, click here.