Tales of Clamor at JACCC
JAPANESE AMERICAN CULTURAL & COMMUNITY CENTER ANNOUNCES WORLD PREMIERE OF TALES OF CLAMOR IN 2019
January 22, 2019, Los Angeles – Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC) is pleased to announce the World premiere of TALES OF CLAMOR by PULLproject Ensemble. Tales of Clamor will be produced by JACCC in close partnership with Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress (NCRR), with performances at JACCC’s Aratani Theatre Black Box in Los Angeles from February 2 - March 3, 2019, every Friday - Monday. Previews will run from February 1-3, with the Opening Night performance and reception on February 8.
With composer and sound designer Howard Ho, principal writer traci kato-kiriyama, and circrus choreographer Kennedy Kabasares, TALES OF CLAMOR utilizes ensemble storytelling, circus arts and archival footage from the 1981 Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians hearings to explore cultural versus institutional silence. TALES OF CLAMOR is a theatrical case-study that examines the sound of silence, the echoes of a little-known yet major moment of American history, and its universal reverberations in today’s landscape. It is a 7-person play centering around two artists, Kem and Eddy, debating cultural versus institutionalized silence as it explores what it means to show up for each other, speak out, and generate the collective clamor necessary for social change.
JACCC is excited to premiere The Aratani Theatre Black Box, an 88-seat configuration that puts the audiences on stage. Artists will immerse audiences in this vibrant multi-disciplinary show and dialogue- centered space for post-show share-backs. This Black Box configuration is particularly relevant since the audience will literally walk by the Little Tokyo Towers as they enter the theatre, which was home to many Japanese Americans whose stories and courage are explored in TALES OF CLAMOR.
JACCC Interim President & CEO Daren Mooko says, “We are proud to partner with PULLproject Ensemble to bring the World Premiere of TALES OF CLAMOR to the Aratani Theatre Black Box. This compelling story of a community breaking its silence 30 years ago about an injustice 70 years ago is all too relevant today.”
Principal Writer traci kato-kiriyama says, “People can expect to come together, witness and breathe together, and perhaps leave with a little overwhelm and a lot of inspiration. Inspiration to do what? To keep going, to get a little (or a lot) louder, to think about the ways they show up, to think about the values behind both the quiet and the noise, to be collective in action and remember we can't make the world progress on our own.”
Circus Choreographer Kennedy Kabasares says, “With the Black Box configuration, we're still going to use the whole stage and all the available tech, but it will be a more intimate setting for the audience. The actors will feel like they are within reach, and the circus apparatuses will practically be right above them.”
NCRR Member Kathy Masaoka says, “Tales of Clamor comes at a time when we need to hear honest and courageous voices speak out about pain and injustice. The Nisei who testified at the CWRIC hearings in 1981 remind of the strength it took to break the silence and how critical it was to healing our community and winning redress.”
About Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC)
Founded in 1971, Japanese American Cultural & Community Center is one of the largest ethnic arts and cultural centers of its kind in the United States. A hub for Japanese and Japanese American arts and culture and a community gathering place for the diverse voices it inspires – JACCC connects traditional and contemporary; community participants and creative professionals; Southern California and the world beyond. JACCC also provides office space in its five-story complex to a wide variety of nonprofit cultural, educational, and community-based organizations in Los Angeles.
About PULLProject Ensemble
Founded in 2008, PULLproject Ensemble is the award-winning Los Angeles-based duo of Kennedy Kabasares (aerial artist/actor) and traci kato-kiriyama (writer/actor). Their work is based in theatre with the use of aerial apparatuses to strip away the spectacle of aerial arts and hone in on relationship and story. Their recent project, PULL: Tales of Obsession, toured internationally and was awarded with feature presentations in festivals and support including an ARC Grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation.
PULLproject has been presented at: POMO Arts in San Francisco; The National Asian American Theatre Festival in Los Angeles; Asian Arts Initiative in Philadelphia; Centre of Gravity in Toronto, Canada; CounterPULSE in San Francisco. They have also been awarded residencies as guest artists and lead collaborators for Asian Arts Initiative's International Artist Exchange in Philadelphia, and the DRAWN project for Eventual Ashes in Toronto. Their recent play, TALES OF CLAMOR, began development in 2014 and draws upon a longstanding relationship with partners, NCRR and Visual Communications. Along the process of development, they earned great community support and garnered two consecutive grant awards from the Network of Ensemble Theaters.
About Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress (NCRR)
Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress (NCRR) was founded in 1980 by Nikkei from across the country. They held the belief that the Japanese American community had to come together for proper redress for what the U.S. government did to Japanese Americans during World War II, namely the forced removal and internment of Japanese American citizens without due process. Foremost has been their drive to empower the grassroots community, to help give voice to Japanese Americans who felt that they had nothing to say or that what they did have to say was not important. They held countless forums to educate and activate the community to participate in the Redress Movement. NCRR helped many of them to speak out at the 1981 hearings of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC). In October 1990, redress became a reality, as Japanese Americans began to receive redress in the form of a presidential apology and $20,000 monetary compensation.
Ticketing
Price: $20 - $40
Online: JACCC.org/talesofclamor-tickets
Phone: (213) 680 - 3700 Aratani Theatre Box Office
In person: Aratani Theatre Box Office, Tues - Sat, 12 - 5 pm 244 S. San Pedro St. Los Angeles, CA 90012
Cast + Creative
Takayo Fischer*, Kennedy Kabasares*, traci kato-kiriyama, Dian Kobayashi* (understudy), Kurt Kuniyoshi, Jully Lee*, Sharon Omi*, Greg Watanabe*, Director: Dan Kwong, Principal Writer: traci kato-kiriyama, Circus Choreography: Kennedy Kabasares*, Composer and Sound Designer: Howard Ho, Projection Designer: Eddy, Vajarakitipongse & YaKnowLikeStudios , Set Designer: Akeime Mitterlehner , Light Designer: Pete Thornbury , Costumer Designer: Ivy Chou , Stage Manager: Corey Lynn Womack* , Executive Producer: Alison M. De La Cruz
*Members of Actors Equity Association
For more information, please visit JACCC.org/talesofclamor.
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Contact
Daren Mooko
Interim President & CEO
Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (310) 628-2725 ext. 101