James and Masako Rose are a Japanese-American couple living in Kentucky. When Masako is diagnosed with a rare, aggressive cancer, her family is obligated to take care of her in an uneasy reunion. Forced together in a time of need, five estranged people come face to face with their own mortality. A compelling drama with unexpected moments of humor, “God Said This” is “a script written with wry, honest wit under extraordinary personal circumstances.”
The play features a multiracial cast that includes Jim Winkler as James, Aya Hashiguchi as Masako, Jasmine Jaqua as Sophie, Anamaria Guerzon as Hiro and Jacob Tice as John. COVID protocols will be in place for all performances. This includes proof of vaccination for all audience members as well as mandatory mask use while seated in the theater.
Leah Nanako Winkler is a Japanese American playwright from Kamakura, Japan and Lexington, Kentucky. “God Said This” won the 2018 Yale Drama Series Prize. Another play by Winkler “Two Mile Hollow” was awarded the Francesca Primus Prize. She is a recipient of a 2020 Steinberg Prize in Distinguished Playwriting.
Dukesbay Productions was founded in 2011 by Tacoma theatre artists Randy Clark and Aya Hashiguchi Clark. Randy has been active in the Tacoma theatre scene as an actor and director since the 1970s. His work has been seen at Lakewood Playhouse, Tacoma Little Theatre and Theatre NW. Aya has appeared at several Seattle/Tacoma theaters and served as producer for eight plays and a Playwrights Festival for Burien Actors Theatre. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Tacoma Little Theatre. Dukesbay Productions’ mission is to promote independent theatre in Tacoma and to showcase the works of theatre artists of all ethnicities.
In November 2020, the NAP reprinted a Discover Nikkei interview with Aya Hashiguchi Clark on the “past, present, and future of Japanese American Theater” by Tamiko Nimura.
“God Said This” by Leah Nanako Winkler, directed by Randy Clark
Mar 18 – Apr 3, Fri-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 2 PM
The Dukesbay Theater, 508 Sixth Ave. #10, Tacoma, WA 98402
Tickets $15, DukesbayGodSaidThis.eventbrite.com
Info: dukesbay.org, info@dukesbay.org or 253-350-7680
