Philip Kan Gotanda
San Francisco: American Conservatory Theater

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) nurtures the art of live theater through dynamic productions, intensive actor training in its conservatory, and an ongoing engagement with its community. Founded in 1965 by William Ball, A.C.T. opened its first San Francisco season at the Geary Theater in 1967. A.C.T. solidified its national and international reputation in the 1970s, winning a Tony Award for outstanding theater performance and training in 1979. During the past four decades, more than 320 A.C.T. productions have been performed for an audience of seven million people. A.C.T. is internationally recognized for its groundbreaking productions of classical works and bold explorations of contemporary playwriting. A.C.T. continues to produce challenging theater in the rich context of symposia, audience discussions, and community interaction. The A.C.T. conservatory, which serves 3,000 students every year, counts Danny Glover, Annette Bening, Denzel Washington, and Anika Noni Rose among its distinguished former students. With its commitment to excellence in actor training and to the relationship between training, performance, and audience, the conservatory is at the forefront of America's actor training programs, while serving as the creative engine of the company at large.

Play Synopsis: A teenage girl is trapped in a Japanese internment camp during the 1940s. She addresses the audience and talks about the disgusting, cramped, and very un-private conditions of her life in the camp: the neighbors, the lack of hygiene, the oily food. Then, something shifts and 1940 collides into today.