‘Seamless’ Director Says Play ‘Launched My Own Awakening’

SANTA MONICA — “Seamless,” Dorinne Kondo’s play about the impact of the wartime incarceration on subsequent generations of Japanese Americans, premiered on Sept. 24 and will be performed two more times: Saturday, Oct. 7, at 4 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 14, at 8 p.m.

It is part of this year’s New Works Festival at Morgan-Wixson Theatre, 2627 Pico Blvd. in Santa Monica.

Carolina Jones plays Diane Kubota, a successful corporate attorney. When a Harvard psychologist, Kathleen Goto (Abbey Eklund), interviews her about her parents’ wartime experiences, Diane realizes that she knows almost nothing about the subject and sets out on a quest to learn more from her parents, Ben and Masako (Daniel Koh and Randi Tahara). The cast also includes Ross G. as Diane’s husband, Ben Roth, and Ciel Choi as her grandmother, whose death is part of the family history that Diane uncovers.

Kondo, an author, playwright, dramaturg, and professor of American studies and anthropology, loosely based the play on her own experiences. When interviewed by a Sansei scholar about the impact of the camps on her family, she found herself choking up and unable to speak. This prompted her to interview her parents, who were sent to the Portland Assembly Center and Tule Lake. Her mother was also detained at Heart Mountain. Kondo continued to interview them for years.

The director of “Seamless,” Melodie S. Rivers, is also an actor, scenic designer, teacher and artist. She found that the play resonated with her as well. Following is her interview with The Rafu’s J.K. Yamamoto:

Rafu: Describe your family’s experiences during World War II.

Rivers: My Nisei mother, Hanako (Kawano) Rivers, was born on Terminal Island on Jan. 5, 1924. When she was about 10, her father, fisherman Toyota Kawano, died, and her mother, Emi (Uchida) Kawano, took all four children back to Japan. My family never endured incarceration (1942-1945), and as far as I know, we had only one friend who did.

Decades after her death, her funny story of defiantly refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and being “deported” to Japan, despite the fact she didn’t speak Japanese, was refuted by her daughters. Now, just like the “Seamless” protagonist, I can never know the whole truth.

Rafu: What does the play mean to you personally?

Rivers: Dr. Kondo’s play, inspired by her surprisingly visceral response to being asked a simple question about internment, launched my own awakening.

Like the “Seamless” protagonist, Diane Kubota, I knew of our racist history of incarcerating Japanese Americans during World War II, but felt it had nothing to do with me. To tell the truth, I only wanted to direct “Seamless” because the theater needed a Japanese American director, and because Diane’s parents’ reticence and resilience, and the Kubota family dynamics, were so familiar to me. I felt I could do a good job.

I recognized striking similarities between Diane and me. I studied mostly European literature, and I learned French. I have an Uncle Shoji who is known for his sweet demeanor. I even married a Jewish man. Unlike Diane, however, my mother met my father in Los Angeles, and they married, despite societal pressures against interracial relationships.

In addition, I loved reading “Seamless.” It’s a delightful, well-written play, full of hilarity and fantasy! I couldn’t wait to put it on stage, where it belongs.

Japanese American internment was nothing but historical fact to me, until I learned this: non-Japanese spouses of Japanese Americans and their biracial children were also incarcerated. I am astounded by my own ignorance.

As I continued to prepare to direct “Seamless,” I read about the rules by which incarcerated non-Japanese spouses could petition for release, with their biracial children, from internment camps. According to encyclopedia.densho.org, those who were responsible for processing petitioners for release were tasked with determining how Caucasian, then how “American” the biracial children were in their appearance and lifestyle. Was their diet predominantly “American” food? What percentage of their friends were “American”? My indignation grew.

Then I read about Children’s Village in the Manzanar camp. The American government incarcerated over 100 U.S.-born orphans of Japanese descent, newborn to age 18, from facilities and foster homes. They incarcerated orphans!

To quote Dr. Kondo, “Seamless” asks, “What does it mean to choke on history?” It can choke you up with sorrow, fear, and loss. It can also choke you with rage. I am so grateful to her for choosing theatre through with to share her story. “Seamless” makes this history not only palatable, but delicious.

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Other plays in the New Works Festival:

“A Night of One-Acts”: “Neighborly” by John Connon, “Swiped” by Samara Siskind, “Here Be Dragons” by Wendy Soroka and “No Loitering” by Amy Dellagiarino, Oct. 7 at 8 p.m. and Oct. 15 at 8 p.m.

“Monarchs” by Danielle Frimer, Oct. 8 at 2 p.m. and Oct. 13 at 8 p.m.

The series also included a special staged reading of “Some Kind of Ecstasy” by Khari Wyatt on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.

For tickets, call (310) 828-7519 or visit www.morgan-wixon.org.