"No-No Boy"

[+ beethoven]

If you have any interest in the Japanese-American internment of 1942-45, or if you just want to see good theater, I recommend "No-No Boy," at the Studio Theater on the 4th floor of Theater Row on West 42nd St in NYC (The Clurman, The Beckett, etc.)

 

This play, based on the 1956 novel, is being performed by ten excellent actors of the Pan-Asian Rep, and it runs through Sunday, Feb. 18. It's done on a bare stage, with just some tables and chairs, but scenery really isn't necessary for this examination of Japanese-Americans in 1946, returning to their homes in Seattle. The characters have had different experiences, ranging from serving in Europe to being incarcerated for replying

"No" to questions about their loyalty to the United States and their willingness to serve in the military. (Hence the derogatory epithet, "No-No boy."