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Coming Spring 2018 at Theatre of Yugen

E.O. 9066 will return to San Francisco in spring of 2018 at the Theatre of Yugen. If you’d like to be a part of the production please click on the donate button.

Thank you everyone who helped us perform at the Topaz Museum Grand Opening in July 2017.

About this Show

Amidst the hysteria of the Second World War after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19,1942. It authorized 120,000 American citizens of Japanese ancestry to be removed from their homes. They were all relocated to remote internment camps in the western U.S. – 11,000 of them were confined in Topaz.

Using a Japanese tea set, a table cloth, sand, brown paper and an old suitcase, Lunatique Fantastique uses puppetry to create the heart-wrenching story of one family’s forced evacuation from their home in Berkeley to the camp in Utah. This show,  originally written in response to past political climates, resonates just as strongly today with the recent violation of American’s civil rights.

Original Direction by Christine Young

Original Music by Shinji Eshima

Object Choreography by Liebe Wetzel

*This work is dedicated to the memory of Donna Nomura Dobkin, whose parents were interned at Topaz.

These performances are dedicated to the memory of Ben Dzuiba a member of the original cast.

Jen Colasuonno, Susie Danzig, Sheila Devitt, Bill Olson, Slater Penney, Robin Plutchok, Christina Shonkwiler

“E.O. 9066′ (is) serious stuff…timely…a reflection on the erosion of civil liberties in times of national crisis…performed (with) the… ensemble’s usual, often astonishingly creative use of found objects.”– Rob Hurwitt, SF Chronicle

“In a nearly silent 60-minute puppet show …(the ensemble) creates more emotion and eloquence than most dialogue-filled plays can produce in two hours…one stirring image after another. Chalk up another amazing adventure in puppetry for the remarkable … cast of Lunatique Fantastique”– Chad Jones, ANG Newspapers

Acknowledgements and Appreciations to the following for their participation and support in interviews for the 2003 Original Production of EO 9066: Keith Nomura, David Hirata, Kathleen Hirata, Ken Iwagaki, Jo Yasutake, Japanese American Museum of San Jose, Kathleen Hironaka, John Hayakawa, Gary Hoshiyama, Barbara Hoshiyama, Fred Hoshiyama, Yane Morishita, “Moffet” Ishikawa, May Shimoguchi, Donna Ozawa, Atsuko Moriuchi, George Oiye, Kats Hikido, Roy Matsuzaki, Jane Beckwith (Topaz Museum Board), The Japanese American Museum of San Jose, and the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles

2003 Performance made possible by grants from CA$H, Zellerbach Family Fund and the Jim Henson Foundation.

Thanks to our donors and sponsors for the 2017 Topaz Tour: Alan Arvin, Alan Plutchok, Anna Fitzgerald, Anne Langill, Annette Losh, Anonymous, Asa Baird, Ayako Nagano, Barbara Jennings, Becca Harvey, Ben Anderson, Bev Rollins, Caela Fujii, Chad Harder, Charlyn Edwards, CHERYL BERNHOFT, Cornelia Shonkwiler, Crown & Crumpet (white teapot), Dick Gaskill, Durand Garcia, Eileen Purdy, Evelyn Jean Pine, Evelyn O’Shaughnessy, Florence Kelly, Frank Kulbertis, Genessa Kealoha, George Koerner, Henri Loh, Henry Andrews, Innovate Today, Jane Wetzel, Jason Mahon, Jay Kravitz, Jeannine Chappell, Jeffrey Kurtzman, Jim Reiter, John Allman, John Flint, Josie Gaillard, Joy Troyer, Jubilith Moore, Karen Larsen, Kari Riedel, Keith Nomura, Kelly Hartlaub, Kenneth Baker, Kirsten Anderson, Launchpad, Lavelle Ferris, Leslie Pelle, Liebe Wetzel, Lilly Tao, Linda Devers, Lindsey Backhaus, Lisa Hooper, Lisa Lindquist, Lisa Pontecorvo, Lunfan Cast Members, Marianne Perchlik, Marlene Costa, Martha Richards, Matt Danzig, Meghan Starkey, Melanie St. Ours, Melissa and Laurence Lasky, Meredith Hagedorn, Michael Henderson (Oakland Rehearsal Space), Michelle Colombini, Monika Gross, Nancy Boas, Nathalie Manning, NeilFred Picciotto, Nicole Frantilla, Nidhi Ghuwalewala, Nina Barlow Glover, Patty Hayes,

Paul Grantham, Pepper Cory (Peppered Cotton fabrics), Rachel Balsley, Rachael Roos, Reenie Raschke, Richard Nicholas and Patricia Pearce, Richard Teutsch, Rick Rubenstein, Ryo Imamura, Sallie Dixon, Sally Munro, Sandra Jennings Eshima (boots), Sandra Johnigan, Sara Jobin, Shinji Eshima, Shirley Sun, Stephen Mack, Sue Benjamin, Susan Kattchee, Terri O’Connor, Theatre First Pre-Show Fundraiser, Theatre of Yugen at NOHspace, Thomas Reilly, TJ Moore, Tom Gough, Topaz Museum, Tricia Teason, Ubin Li, Vonn Bair, Williams Elsman, and Yuriko Doi Walker