ONE NIGHT ONLY! FIRST LOOK AT NEW PLAY BY ACCLAIMED PLAYWRIGHT PHILIP KAN GOTANDA

Asian American Theater Company and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts proudly present a workshop production of The Sisters Matsumoto by Philip Kan Gotanda The play will be performed for ONE NIGHT ONLY and FREE OF CHARGE at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum, 701 Mission Street at Third Street, San Francisco, on Friday, October 2, 1998, at 7:30 p.m. A reception immediately follows at which audience members will have an opportunity to meet the artists. This event is an important opportunity to participate in the development of a ground breaking new work slated for a world premiere production at Seattle Repertory Theater in January 1999 and the northern California premiere production at San Jose Repertory Theater in April 1999. For information and reservations, please call 415.440.5545.

The Sisters Matsumoto explores the aftereffects of the internment camps on three sisters returning home to Stockton after World War II. When the camps closed, there was little government support nor even a formal apology, nor was there protection from continued wartime-inspired resentment, discrimination and even outright violence. Stripped of the resources developed over generations, Japanese Americans returning home were forced to start from scratch. Mr. Gotanda's deeply touching and insightful work puts a human face on the aftermath of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 (the order to the United States military command to exclude and detain Americans of Japanese descent).

The Sisters Matsumoto will be directed by Sharon Ott, current Seattle Repertory Theater Artistic Director and former Berkeley Repertory Theater Artistic Director. The cast includes some of today's most talented and respected Asian American actors: Tamlyn Tomita (Joy Luck Club, One Hundred Percent), Stan Egi (Rising Sun), Kim Miyori (Golden Child), Greg Watanabe (Ballad of Yachiyo, 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors), Too Sesma and Lisa Li.

Asian American Theater Company commissioned The Sisters Matsumoto, with principal support from the Civil Liberties Public Education Fund. This workshop production with Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is made possible by the Rockefeller Multi-Arts Production Fund. The Sisters Matsumoto project is generously supported by the Civil Liberties Public Education Fund, AT&T Foundation and the LEF Foundation.

Over the last 18 years Philip Kan Gotanda's plays have been produced extensively throughout the country, and he has been an important voice in new American theater. Best known for an innovative writing style that combines social examination with a bold and visual approach, his works have been presented at Asian American Theater Company, Berkeley Repertory Theater, East West Players, Manhattan Theater Club, Mark Taper Forum, New York Shakespeare Festival, Playwrights Horizons, Seattle Repertory Theater and South Coast Repertory Theater, among others. His most recent theater works are Yohen a story of an elderly African American and Japanese American couple struggling to maintain their marriage, and Chang and Eng: Caucasian Dreams and Perfumed Orientalism, a piece commissioned by Berkeley Repertory Theater, about the famous 19~ Century conjoined Bunker twins.

Mr. Gotanda also explores a variety of other mediums including film and spoken word performance with musician Dan Kuramoto, of the pioneering Asian American jazz fusion ensemble Hiroshima As a follow up to their cult hit, "in the dominion of night," Mr. Gotanda, Mr. Kuramoto and their ensemble "the new orientals" are presently developing a follow-up piece, "self immolation: five spoken word torch songs." Mr. Gotanda was participated in the 1997 Sundance Filmmakers Lab with his project, Otto, and his two short films, The Kiss and Drinking Tea were both selected for screening at the 1995 and 1997 Sundance Film Festivals. He recently completed production of his independent feature Life Tastes Good in San Francisco.

Mr. Gotanda's awards and honors include the Guggenheim Award, the Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Award, TCGPEW National Theater Artist Award (a residency at Berkeley Repertory Theater, and three NEA Awards for Performance, Directing and Playwrighting. He is presently an Artist-in-Residence at Seattle Repertory Theater.

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is an independent non-profit arts center that presents arts and entertainment emphasizing the diverse artists and communities of the Bay Area. Built by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, which also provides for ongoing facility maintenance, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit responsible for raising all funds for its artistic and educational programs.

Asian American Theater Company was founded in 1973 as a playwrights' workshop sponsored by the American Conservatory Theater. The company is dedicated to the production of new American plays by dramatists of Asian Pacific Islander descent. Throughout its history, AATC has served as a venue for numerous Asian Pacific American theater artists, including Mitzie Abe, Jeannie Barroga Emilya Cachapero, "Charlie" Chin, Frank Chin, Margaret Cho, Dennis Dun, David Henry Hwang, Philip Kan Gotanda Marc Hayashi, Amy Hill, Velina Hasu Houston, Momoko Iko, Alberto Isaac, Warren Kubota Cherylene Lee, Genny Lim, Alec Mapa Dom Magwili, Kim Miyori, Judi Nihei, Han Ong, R.A. Shiomi, Lauren Tom, Denise Uyehara Wakako Yamauchi, Byron Yee, Kelvin Han Yee and Chay Yew. Now in its 26th season, AATC will continue to seek out and develop the talents of Asian Pacific Islander Americans and is poised to chart new directions for Asian Pacific Islander American theater arts into the new millennium.

Asian American Theater Company is generously supported by funds from the San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund Grants for the Arts, Civil Liberties Public Education Fund, National Endowment for the Arts, AT&T Foundation, San Francisco Arts Commission, the Starr Foundation, the Zellerbach Family Fund, Asian Pacific American Community Fund, California Arts Council, IBM International Foundation, BankAmerica Foundation and Asian American Arts Foundation.

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