Kohsuke, Kimiko, and YusukeI miss the tater tots.
http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/arts/2008/08/10/
http://www.theolympian.com/188/story/543537.html
http://www.theolympian.com/nightlife/story/543537-p2.html
http://www.tacomaweekly.com/article/2211/
This article is a year old, but ... I like it. It is a wonderful article, about some of my very favorite people.
Taste of American life: Play Buffet introduces troubled Japanese students to language, culture, production.
Byline: Rosemary Ponnekanti
Aug. 17--It seems like just another night of theater. Eight plays by Northwest playwrights, staged at Theatre on the Square on Saturday night.
But the actors, designers, technicians, musicians and even directors of the Play Buffet are 33 Japanese high school dropouts, some acting in English after just three weeks studying in America.
It's all part of a radical Japanese program designed to provide alternative schooling for kids that don't fit in.
Play Buffet "is a surreal, uplifting and curiously theatrical experience for everyone," says artistic director Bryan Willis, and he's not just talking about the audience. Willis is now in his 10th year of the program, which began in 1995.
The workshop is run by the Academy of International Education, which helps kids who drop out of the rigid Japanese school system because of either academic or disciplinary problems. Two alternative, arts-based secondary schools in Toyko and Kobe qualify students for university entrance and offer a college degree in America. Over four or five years, the students -- either at Saint Martin's University or Pierce College -- learn English and American culture, graduating and returning to careers in Japan.
But the key element is an annual four-week summer theater workshop, culminating in Saturday's performance. Over the years it has evolved from standard plays, under the first director, Charlotte Tiencken, to an exploration of newly-written local works, often specially adapted. Students act, create sets and costumes, do lighting, even make the food for the party afterward.
Those in their senior years direct alongside local professionals. It's the best way, according to AIE founding director Dr. Toshio Ogoshi, of learning a new language, a new culture and self-expression.
At rehearsal, 21-year-old freshman Kokoro Iwano is sitting in a circle with eight other students and drama coach Misty Carson, one of Willis' six staff members. They're working on pronunciation.
Iwano, who plays a memory-challenged goldfish arguing philosophy with a snail in "Colors," says one of her lines in a soft voice, eyes downward, ending up with "ring."
"Ah," nods Carson. "R and L are fun, aren't they? Try a real 'rrrrrrr.'"
"Rrrrrring," says Iwano seriously.
"Mmm, that's it."
Takumi Iizuka, a solid, fresh-faced kid beside her, goes next. "Instinctual," he enunciates, trying hard to separate the consonants. Around the room, pairs of students confer about technical issues, rehearse songs. It's obvious that everyone is competent and committed -- no discipline or academic problems here.
"There's a real willingness to work, to try new things," says Willis, who has taught drama at schools around the region. "Unlike American students, they're very worldly, but not jaded. Imagine that!"
Willis assumes a don't-ask policy on the students' disciplinary background, but Chie Yuhara, an AIE staff member who accompanies students from Kobe to Washington, is open about the issue.
"They want to go to school -- in our society, it's very important -- but they just can't," says Yuhara. "They're too young to explain it, they just start to get headaches, stomachaches, and just don't go. But there aren't many alternatives."
Iwano was one of those students. After graduating from junior high, she began to dislike high school.
"I didn't like the atmosphere, I began to have nervous physical problems," she says, via a student translator. So she left, and entered the AIE school, Shiyu-juku "Rebirth Academy." After seeing videos of older students acting in the Play Buffet, she couldn't wait to go too.
Her ultimate goal? "I want to contribute to society, to support students like myself."
Takahiro Kato is another of the newly-arrived freshmen. Nineteen years old, with spiky hair and a mischievous smile, he's an incredibly polite rebel. "I left elementary school at 11. From kindergarten I knew I didn't want to be there, that I didn't fit into the system," he explains. Despite worried parents forcing him into the car, he racked up truancies, and finally refused to take the test for junior high, joining Rebirth Academy instead. He's finding acting in English difficult, but he's inspired to develop his potential and find a career with AIE.
But while this kind of theater might be entertaining, does it really help the students? The answer, from everyone, is emphatic.
"It works!" says Daisuke Sakamoto, a fourth-year political science/history student, group translator and the snail in Iwano's play. "I have enjoyed every year. Japanese schools are so strict, there's so much pressure and competition. This develops our creativity and expression in different ways."
Willis sees the immediate learning impact. "When you're learning a language, it's hard to relax, but in this program it's all about fun, plus the agenda of communicating through a play and learning a culture. They make so much progress, and come so far in such a short period."
For Yuhara, the proof is in her own career. A graduate of AIE in both Japan and America, she then chose to work for the institution. "It's my life work. I experienced learning language and life itself through this program."
The program has other spinoffs, too: As playwright in residence for the Northwest Playwrights Alliance, Willis has allowed the Play Buffet to be another forum for local playwrights. Saturday's lineup includes Eva Suter, Elena Hartwell and Dan Erickson.
And for Willis, it represents a possibility that the arts might be more valued in education.
"I believe this program should be the model around the country," he says. "In any given culture there are students who find a home in theater and writing. You don't have to be doing this in a different language for it to work."
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