By J.K. YAMAMOTO
Rafu Shimpo
“Paper Flowers,” adapted by screenwriter/director Alli Kiko Masloske from her award-winning teleplay, shows that the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II is more relvant than ever today.
The play is making its stage premiere at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Remaining performances at the Promenade Playhouse at LAPAC (Los Angeles Performing Arts Conservatory), 1534 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood: Saturday, June 27, at 3:10 p.m. and Sunday, June 28, at 2:40 p.m.
“‘Paper Flowers’ was originally written as a teleplay for the CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) New Writers Fellowship,” Masloske recalls. “I was a part of the 2024 cohort and honestly felt any opportunity to produce it for television would be years away.
“When the ICE raids started escalating in California the following year, I just knew I had to get the story out sooner. Given all the parallels from the past to the present, I wanted ‘Paper Flowers’ to not only inform but also inspire.”
In 1970 Chicago, a Japanese American family finds their seemingly peaceful routine upended by racial tensions over the Vietnam War. A single mother must relive her traumatic memories of incarceration after a racial slur targeting her daughter is burned onto their front lawn.
The story is “deeply steeped in my own family’s past,” Masloske says. “It’s based on their experience of being separated by the camps and then trying to make a life for themselves afterwards. In the show, there is a fire and hate crime that incites most of the story.
“That scene is largely inspired by what happened to my grandfather Kazuyoshi, who was a mechanic in the suburbs of Chicago. His prized motorcycle was set on fire in his front yard by vandals.
“I also pay honor to my family by naming the main characters Nishiyama, our family name. And in one scene, the ID tags that are affixed to the family bear the number of my family’s actual internment number.
“Additionally, I found a great amount of inspiration in reading and watching interviews that helped shed light on facts and experiences to help expand the ‘Paper Flowers’ story. What’s also highlighted in the show is how so many pictures, documents, and stories have been lost to time and circumstance.”
The Nishiyama family is played by Miley Yamamoto, Miya Kodama, Hiro Matsunaga and Thomas Winter. The cast also includes Staci Ashley, Evan Cooper Dodgen, Tyler Hustable, Melanie McNulty, Moimoi Gilmore, Dennis Delsing and Nataliia Pierina.
The playwright explains why she chose that particular time and palace. “By setting ‘Paper Flowers’ primarily in 1970 with flashbacks to some of the characters in the 1940s camps, it helped me explore a few different things. How trauma evolves over time and how it can or doesn’t have to be passed onto the next generation. How the same hateful speech is reused time and time again to scapegoat people of color.
“During WWII, JA people were considered the ‘enemy’ even if they had never stepped foot outside of America. Due to the ongoing Vietnam War, any Asian American was considered an ‘enemy’ because of their appearance. And it’s a similar mindset we saw used during COVID against Asians and Asian Americans, and the same rhetoric we see being used today against our Latino and immigrant neighbors.
“Chicago in the ’70s was a hotbed of political strife. The play takes place just two years after the Democratic Convention of 1968, which televised police brutality toward protesters and really started bringing more everyday people into community activism work. In the same way hate keeps getting recycled, so too does resistance, hope, and change.
“An important part for me was to draw further parallels between the riots and protests of the ‘70s to those inside many of the Japanese incarceration camps. I don’t think many people realized how often and how hard JA people fought and spoke out with outrage against their false imprisonment.”
Masloske hopes that audiences will take to heart what she is trying to convey. “Our show’s message has remained relevant throughout history and especially today. 2020 saw an increase of anti-Asian hate crimes due to the xenophobic rhetoric around the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As I wrote the original story … we saw a shift in mindset, with increased immigration policies, censorship in education, DEI rollbacks, and increased ICE presence and deportations reflecting an overall climate of fear, division, and exclusion.
“This mindset is still ever-present today. Which is why ‘Paper Flowers’ is most important right now. 2026 is a midterm election year. Our play serves as a reminder that history cannot and should not be repeated. The time for change is now.
“We need to remember the tragedies of America’s past and use our voice to advocate for a better America. Participation and speaking out is the most important thing to do right now.”
A portion of ticket sales will be donated to CHIRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles) and Nikkei Progressives, which are dedicated to advocating for immigrant rights and justice.
Recommended for ages 13+. The show has a content warning due to strong racial themes, language, staged fighting, implied violence towards protesters, and the implication of guns (which are made of cardboard).
Tickets: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/13651?tab=tickets