Pacific Asian Heritage Month, and the Arigato Kai Japanese-American Theatre Company is presenting Shin Hasegawa’s classical play, “Mabuta no Haha” (Memory of Mother) on Friday, May 6th and Saturday May 7th at 8 pm, and Saturday, May 7th and Sunday, May 8th at 2pm.
The show will be presented at the Secret Rose Theatre, located at 11246 Magnolia Blvd. in North Hollywood.
Hasegawa’s “Mabuta no Haha” is a story about Yakuza, a gambler who searches for his mother who left him when he was 5 years old. It tells of a family re-united through forgiveness and acceptance.
All performances are in Japanese with English subtitles so that audiences from diverse cultures can enjoy the show together.
The play stars Arigato Kai’s special guest performer, Sayoko Shirotani, a successful actress, producer and teacher from Tokyo, Japan.
(See http://www.wanowa.org/en/cando/index.html for more information about Sayoko.)
For each ticket sold, Arigato Kai and it’s production company Fire Rose Productions will donate $2 to rebuild earthquake damaged and destroyed school libraries in the Miyagi, Sendai and Fukishima school districts in Japan.
“This play is not only promoting the performing arts in our community, it is also offering people of all backgrounds a chance to learn about and enjoy Asian Pacific Heritage month while making a difference for some of the youngest victims of Japan’s recent natural disasters,” said Kaz Matamura, managing director of Arigato Kai and Fire Rose Productions.
“When seeing our show, audience members will enjoy the performance, learn about Japanese culture and help Japan heal all at the same time.”
Tickets can be purchased in advance at the discounted rate of $16 each via PayPal at www.fireroseproductions.com.
Admission is $22 each (cash only) at the door, or $15each for groups of 10 or more. For information or reservations, go to http://www.fireroseproductions.com/?page_id=66, or call (818) 760-4155.
Arigato Kai is the only theatre company in the nation that presents theatrical performances entirely in Japanese.
Fire Rose Productions, a California 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation founded in 2000, is committed to providing theatrical performances to the community that encourage participation and promote multi-cultural awareness and education in the arts.
Programs include: New Rose Ensemble — Theatre Production Company, Mini Rose Ensemble — Youth Programs and Arigato Kai – Japanese Language Theatre Ensemble.
