Staged Reading: IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOUNTAINS by Valerie Sing Turner

IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOUNTAINS

written by Valerie Sing Turner

Sunday, July 28, 2024

4:30pm PT

Staged Reading + Talkback

Livestreamed + In-Person

Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre

950 41st Avenue West, Jewish Community Centre, Vancouver

Produced by Visceral Visions

No admission charge

SYNOPSIS: It’s 1988. A family gathers to discuss what to do about Esther, a Chinese-Canadian WWII veteran, as they can no longer ignore her growing dementia. She keeps talking to Victor, her beloved brother, whose death she blames on the Japanese when he served in the Pacific arena during World War II. Her husband George, an Indigenous WWII veteran, was Victor’s best friend; they had all joined up full of dreams and adventure. Their son, Gary, arrives with his white wife and their daughter Lucy. Things are already tense when estranged eldest daughter Nancy shows up with husband Ken and their two daughters – who have never met Esther and George because Ken is Japanese-Canadian and Esther refuses to acknowledge his existence. But the real fireworks begin when Prime Minister Brian Mulroney announces his plan to apologize to the Japanese Canadians who were interned during WWII. In the Shadow of the Mountains ponders the true meaning of reconciliation when the weight of Canadian history threatens to tear us apart.

COMPANY

David Geary - George

Donna Yamamoto* - Esther

Justin Neal - Gary

Kim Villagante - Andrea + as cast

Lissa Neptuno* - Denise + as cast

Ray Koh - Victor

Ronin Wong* - Kenji, Hank

Sarah Kelley* - Joanna

Sunny (Daydream) Chen* - Lucy + as cast

Yumi Ogawa* - Nancy + as cast

Valerie Sing Turner* - Playwright/Director

Anju Singh - Composer/Sound Design

Cande Andrade - Projection Design

Chengyan Boon - Set/Lighting Design

April Starr Land* - Stage Manager

Jessica Schacht - Dramaturg

Paige Louter - Producer

Daryl Cloran - Director Mentor

Dennis Joseph - Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Elder/Cultural Consultant

Catherine Clement - Community Historian (Chinese Canadians during WWII)

Sherri Kajiwara - Director | Curator, Nikkei National Museum

Maiko Behr - Japanese Cultural Consultant

* The participation of these Artists is arranged by permission of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association under the provisions of the Dance Opera Theatre Policy (DOT).

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Event Venue & Nearby Stays

950 W 41st Ave, 950 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver, Canada