KUOW: Audience Immersed into Japanese American Incarceration Camp Experience

A new opera debuting this weekend in Seattle brings the incarceration camp experience to its audience.

KUOW reports that those attending An American Dream at the Seattle Opera will have to pass through guards at a checkpoint.

“This is your family number. Please keep it with you at all times,” the actors dressed as guards will instruct operator-goers.

“Just standing in line and getting a number and being told that you have to wear it reflects the fact that everybody that was taken away from their home was no longer a person but a number,” said Bill Tashima of the Japanese American Citizens League who advised the opera on this production.
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Part of An American Dream was based on answers to a question posed to the community.

If you had to leave home today, what would you take with you and why?

The Opera’s goal is to make this production a more personal experience and attract a wider audience that might not normally consider going to see an opera.

You can learn more about what went into making this opera a more personal experience on KUOW.