'The moral is the title': Theatre Calgary presents world premiere production of Forgiveness

Yoshi Bancroft and Kevin Takahide Lee in Theatre Calgary's world premiere production of Forgiveness (Photo: Courtesy Theatre Calgary/Moonrider Productions)

Some plays are more personal than others for theatre artists as is the case for Theatre Calgary artistic director Stafford Arima with Forgiveness, which opens Friday night at Max Bell Theatre in Arts Commons.

It's a world-premiere presentation of an ambitious co-production (in partnership with the Vancouver Arts Club Theatre) of an adaptation of author Mark Sakamoto's memoir of the story of his maternal grandfather, who was imprisoned in Japan during the Second World War while his paternal grandmother and her Japanese-Canadian family were interned by the government in Alberta.

It's not Arima's own story, but it's not too many degrees of separation either.

"My family was interned in World War II," he said, in an interview with CTV News a couple days before opening night. "My grandma, aunts and uncles."

What Arima's childhood – and the childhoods of many of the generation that experienced war – was missing were the stories of what happened to them.

"It wasn’t talked about at home or in our school," he said. "There wasn’t conversation with my father or aunts or uncles. That generation went through it and wanted to move forward.

"When my family talked about the camps," he added, "I thought they meant summer camps."

"My personal connection to the material is monumental," he says. "It gives voice to my family’s story."

BROADWAY-BOUND

When he was in his 30s, Arima got the opportunity to direct Allegiance, a Broadway musical adapted from the family story of Star Trek cast member George Takei, whose family was interned in California during the war.

"To bring a historical juggernaut onto the Broadway stage - a musical - was even more thrilling," he says.

While they share a historical moment, Allegiance and Forgiveness approach it in two very different ways.

Allegiance relied upon orchestration and songs, while Forgiveness, Arima says - which bounces between B.C., Japan, and Coaldale, Alberta - is almost cinematic in the way it tells the story, including using sequences of video animation created by Cindy Mochizuki he describes as "amazing."

Allegiance explores the experiences of a single Japanese-American family, while Forgiveness tells the story of two different Canadian ones: the Macleans and the Sakamotos.

"There’s a different entry point into the narrative, which allows a wider lens into the ravages of any war," he says.

What did he learn from directing a Broadway musical about the Japanese internment that he could apply to directing a world-premiere Canadian drama exploring a different angle of the same story?

"Not to be shy of telling the truth," Arima says.

"This (Forgiveness) isn’t a play where you stand up and point a finger and say you were bad," he says.

"Ralph McLean is a prisoner of war who gets tortured by the Japanese," he says.

"{Playwright} Hiro (Kanagawa) is very raw – everyone (in Forgiveness) is human," he adds. "Whether that’s a Japanese soldier torturing somebody or a Japanese-Canadian being tossed into a chicken coop.

"That’s our responsibility [as theatre artists]," he says."Dark parts of our history can’t be ignored.

"The moral is the title," he adds."What’s so generous (about Forgiveness) is it takes you on a (truly) human journey (by asking) how can you come through that (harrowing experience) and find forgiveness?"

Arima is thrilled that the cast features a number of Asian-Canadian actors, equally divided among Calgary and Vancouver residents.

"A good 50-50 split!" he says.

He's also thrilled to be working in collaboration with Vancouver's Arts Club Theatre, pointing out that Sakamoto's memoir is set equally in B.C. and Alberta, so it makes perfect sense that both theatre communities would team up to turn Forgiveness into an unforgettable night of theatre.

"These [theatrical] partnerships are integral, connecting our communities," he says.

"It’s wild and amazing."

Forgiveness, presented by Theatre Calgary and the Vancouver Arts Club, at the Max Bell Theatre through April 1.