DEC 21, 2019 10:14 PM
DECEMBER 10
I was invited to collaborate on the creation of the script because of my “Poetry of the State” project where I edit documents of the state into poems that reflect the essential nature of the document. Director Becca Wolf was such a pleasure to collaborate with and I was impressed with her quick staging and relationship with her actors. It was a very different process creating a script for SCOTUS Theater instead of a poem but the end product felt like a greek play. I took the lead on the first act and the second act was edited by Becca and Lisa using the Trump vs Hawaii case. The rehearsal took a lot of understanding of the legal concepts. The actors were so sharp and in the short rehearsal time really embodied the text. Luckily I’d become surprisingly informed about the concepts in the cases from editing them. Anil Kumar, Dian Kobayashi, Aily Kei, Giovani Adams, Brian Houtz, Jesse Saler, and Akilah Walker were all awesome. Also it was great to work with Akilah again from Bounce by Candrice Jones. Lisa Stern had such great clarity about post show questions and I loved facilitating a conversation between experts Hiroshi Motomura, Mia Yamamoto, and Farida Chehata. They were so informed and smart and actually left us feeling inspired and full of hope. I shared with EastWest Players artistic director Snehal Desai that last time I was in LA for my #walkabout I had chosen to witness his production of Allegiance, a musical about Japanese Internment Camps. I was coming from a bunch of work in Tennessee and the travel costs were beyond the budget of SCOTUS Theater so I ended up subsidizing this trip and it was so worth it. Doing this work in the Center for the Preservation for Democracy reaffirmed that I am on the right path and doing the right work.
—– Information about the production—–
In recognition of the 75th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Korematsu v. US (1944), East West Players and SCOTUS Theater will host a reading featuring excerpts from this case and from Trump v. Hawaii (2018).
In Korematsu, the Court declared the internment of Japanese-Americans constitutional; Trump v. Hawaii overturned Korematsu but upheld bans on travel from multiple Muslim-majority countries.
Koramatsu v US is adapted by Claudia Alick in the style of Poetry of the State. In this project Ms. Alick adapts legal documents like this one using tools of poetry (ie epanaphora, alliteration, assonance) to point out the heightened nature of the legalise and clarify the impact the words have on us today legally. Trump vs Hawaii (both decision and arguments) has been edited for length only. Tonights reading is 50 minutes with a 10 minute intermission. Panel discussion is 40 minutes including Q and A.
A post-show discussion will provide context, engaging questions of justice, liberty, exclusion, and the limitations of the courts. Aimed at artists, activists, citizens, and community leaders, this event is presented in partnership with East West Players.
Tuesday, December 10, 2019 | 7:30 pm
Location: Tateuchi Democracy Forum
National Center for the Preservation of Democracy (across the walkway from JANM’s entrance)
Suggested donation • $20.
RSVP is complimentary – in the check-out process there is a field to make a donation. Cash and check donations will be accepted at the door.
$20 suggested donation benefiting organizations working to protect the civil rights of immigrants.
Special thanks to our community partners:
Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles County (APABA)
2.0 hours of MCLE (including 1.0 hour of elimination of bias) credit provided by the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles County (APABA).
APABA is a State Bar of California-approved MCLE provider
#concentrationcamps #immigrantjustice #poetry #racialjustice #theater