31 Asian American Plays in 31 Days
#8 And The Soul Shall Dance, by Wakako Yamauchi
One of the first classics in the canon, AND THE SOUL SHALL DANCE revolves a young Japanese American girl and her parents as they struggle to live in Central California during The Great Depression. They play grapples with many of the issues facing Japanese Americans in America such as Assimilation, immigration, social, economic and political status, and simply surviving.
The play is based on her short story by the same name that was published in Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Asian-American Writers and was made into a PBS film in 1977. The play went on to win Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for best new play of 1977.
There was an initial workshop production in 1975 or so at Seattle’s Asian Exclusion Act (later Northwest Asian American Theatre), probably directed by Garrett Hongo, and featuring Bea Kiyohara and Stephen Sumida (ETA: and Amy Hill according to Garrett). The finished version premiered at East West Players and featured Shizuko Hoshi, Keone Young, Josie Maseras Pepito, Jim Ishida, Susan Inouye, and Mimosa Iwamatsu. Mako and Alberto Isaac.
The production photo is of Haunani Minn, Yuki Shimoda, Jim Ishida and Josie Maseras Pepito.
SOUL holds up incredibly well over the years, and has been successfully revived by Asian American theatres over the years. Fodder for future seasons, eh? (Photo from the East West production).
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