a site responsive play by Universal Limited
Special Victoria presentation – Monday, December 4, 2017
Queenswood/Arbutus Room Cadboro Commons, University of Victoria
Reserve your tickets through Eventbrite. Free but registration needed.
Monday, December, 4 2017
Program 1 11:00 am-12:20 pm
Program 2 12:30 pm -1:50 pm
Program 3 2:00 pm -3:20 pm
Pre-performance presentation by sponsoring departments.
Performance followed by Q & A and discussion with cast.
Seating is limited to 30 per program.
In 1942, over 8,000 Canadians were detained in barns at Hastings Park—the effects, and the memories haunt us to this day.
JAPANESE PROBLEM is a title derived from the nomenclature of WWII, but containing in it the understanding that the citizens affected at the time were neither Japanese- they were overwhelmingly legal residents/citizens of Canada, nor problematic–with zero verifiable connections to activities against Canada.
JAPANESE PROBLEM invites an audience into a stall, which residents have turned into a temporary home and place of wonder, as they are filled with the uncertainty of their next destination.
The piece exists in the contemporary moment simultaneously, where evidence of Hastings Parks’s former tenants has been erased, where survivors are uncertain if they want their names included in a memorial; and where refugees to North America are being treated in a fashion that is terrifyingly familiar.
Universal Limited is a collective (Previously: Tour in Vancouver, Victoria, and Toronto) who works to uncover hidden stories in unusual locations. We work collectively to write and design our shows as experiences that are accessible to all.
Creation and development of Japanese Problem funded by the following organizations:
British Columbia Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, Nikkei National Museum and the National Association of Japanese Canadians
Learn more at www.hastingpark42.ca
University of Victoria performances presented by Landscapes of Injustice, Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives, Department of History and Department of Theatre