The Nisei Monologues: Children of the Camps (play)

Three actor play in which the actors give monologues adapted from actual words of Japanese Americans about incarceration, covering the range of the experience from witnessing Japanese planes flying overhead to attack Pearl Harbor, to the arrests of Issei community leaders, the roundup of Japanese Americans, and resistance and cooperation in the concentration camps. Though most pieces are not attributed, first person narratives by Min Yasui , James Sakamoto , and Joe Kurihara are noted. In between the monologues are stories from Japanese mythology and statements by various government officials both in support of and opposing the forced removal and incarceration.

Playwright/director Crystal d. Langley, the theater production manager for Golden Valley and Buhach Colony [California] High Schools, wrote the play based on archival research and interviews with Nisei in the area. About ten students who were part of an honors program ended up being involved with the production of the play, which was inspired in part by The Vagina Monologues . An advisory group consisting of Grace Kimoot, Marlene Tanioka, and Sherman Kishi assisted Langley. The play was performed on February 15–17, 2007, at the Golden Valley High School Theater in Merced, California. The play was funded in part by a grant from the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program.