Bethany Arts Community & HERE Arts Center Present 'The Story Box'

Press release from Bethany Arts Community:

Sept. 1, 2022

The Story Box is a multi-genre storytelling event using text, visuals, music, and experiential learning to explore the importance of safeguarding our civil rights through the lens of Japanese American identity. Grounded in Takahashi’s own family history, and a traditional form of Japanese street theater and storytelling called kamishibai, The Story Box is deeply personal and universal for many immigrant families from across the globe.

Representing the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps during WWII, the audience will receive a name tag and suitcase, inside of which is a wireless headset and a family photo album. Each unique family photo album documents an account of the problematic history of Asian people in the U.S., and more recently, the rise in anti-Asian violence during the pandemic.

The Story Box is inspired by the events of writer/performer Suzi Takahashi’s own life. Performed and delivered through Takahashi’s own words, transmitted via the headset, The Story Box asks audience members to reflect together on the stories in each suitcase. At the end of each performance, audience members are invited to turn to their neighbors and read aloud the letters written by Asian Americans which have been packed into their suitcase. Through this intimate and communal act, the audience breathes life anew into these stories. As the experience draws to a close, the audience is invited to leave a story of their own behind for future audiences.

Performances at Bethany Arts Community and at the Ossining Waterfront Park are:
co-presented and produced by HERE Arts Center. The Story Box has been developed with support from Alfred University, Bethany Arts Community, Bristol Valley Theatre and National Park of Women’s Rights. It is co-presented with Japan Society, Bronx Academy of Art and Dance, and NYC Economic Development Corporation and through partnerships with Asian American Arts Alliance, Chocolate Factory, Flushing Town Hall, National Lighthouse Museum, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island Arts, and Target Margin Theater. Additional support provided by The Venturous Theatre Fund of theTides Foundation; and GREEN / ARTS LIVE NYC. GREEN / ARTS LIVE NYC is made possible with support from New York Community Trust and Con Edison’s Arts Al Fresco Series, administered by City Parks Foundation in collaboration with the Horticultural Society of New York, New Yorkers for Culture & Arts, NYC Department of Transportation, OpenCultureWORKS, and Street Lab.

This press release was produced by Bethany Arts Community. The views expressed here are the author's own.