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Wakako Yamauchi

WAKAKO YAMAUCHI  

 Nationality:    Asian American
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    n/a


Wakako Yamauchi's And the Soul Shall Dance is among the most celebrated works of Asian American Drama. Following its long evolution from a short story that appeared in Aiiieeeee!, it became one of the "biggest hits ever in the history of East West Players," earned the LA Critics' Circle Award in 1977, and was produced for television. In light of her 1994 Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Award and her recent collection, Songs My Mother Taught Me, it's astonishing to think that Yamauchi once wondered if she was "good enough" to write for the LA-based newspaper,Rafu Shimpo. She was good enough-and formed a long-term relationship with Japanese American readers in the Rafu's pages, both as a writer and illustrator, that has continued until this day.
- http://www.aatrevue.com

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below is a list of Wakako Yamauchi's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

 12-1-A         And The Soul Shall Dance         Chairman's Wife, The         Face Box         Fine Day, A         Momento         Music Lessons, The         Not A Through Street         Shirley Hot-Cha-Cha         Songs That Made The Hit Parade         Stereoscope         Trip, The

12-1-A

Synopsis:
Set in a Japanese internment camp in Arizona, 12-1-A follows members of the Tanaka family as they are uprooted from their home and sent to an internment camp during World War II.
- http://www.aatrevue.com

Notes:
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1st Produced:
East West Players, LA    1982

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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And The Soul Shall Dance

Synopsis:
A touching story of two immigrant families during the Depression, And the Soul Shall Dance is an early and important landmark of Asian-American Drama. Set in an Imperial Valley farming community in 1935, And the Soul Shall Dance focuses on the two Japanese-American families as they struggle to exist in their new country. The Murata family is strong and spirited despite their adversities, and they clearly love each other. Papa Murata is an optimistic man who enjoys his sake. His wife, Hana, is practical and wise. She tells their young daughter Masako: "one has to know when to bend. . .like the bamboo. When the winds blow, bamboo bends. You bend or crack." In contrast, the tormented marriage of the Okas is not as adaptable to the winds of change. Emiko, trained to dance and perform tea ceremony wearing silken kimonos, had been forced to marry the farmer Oka, leaving behind the man she loves. Their miserable, loveless marriage of ten years becomes more complicated when Oka's daughter by his first wife arrives from Japan. As Emiko withdraws into dreams of returning to Japan, Oka dotes lavishly on his daughter Kiyoko to transform her into an all-American girl. The title of this play comes from a song that provides a brief comfort for the unhappy wife. Unable to adjust, Emiko dances as if transported from the alien California desert back to her beloved Japan.
- http://www.aatrevue.com

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Tea/Nwaat    1973

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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Chairman's Wife, The

Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
East West Players, LA    1990

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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Face Box

Synopsis:
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Notes:
Revised As The Momento

1st Produced:
Pan Asian Rep    1984

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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Fine Day, A

Synopsis:
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Momento

Synopsis:
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Notes:
Originally entitled: "The Face Box"

1st Produced:
-    1984

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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Music Lessons, The

Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
Public Theatre    1980

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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Not A Through Street

Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
East West Players, LA    1991

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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Shirley Hot-Cha-Cha

Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
Mark Taper    1991

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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Songs That Made The Hit Parade

Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
East West Players, LA    -

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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To Buy This Play:
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Stereoscope

Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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To Buy This Play:
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Trip, The

Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
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Parts:
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Further Reference:
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