Renton Library to host play about Japanese incarceration during WWII

Written and directed by Laura Ferri, the play is comprised of personal interviews and historical primary sources to tell a story of “friendship, injustice, and resilience.”

By Bailey Josie • March 21, 2023 10:30 am
“Friends Across the Wires” takes place throughout the Pacific Northwest, including Seattle and the Minidoka internment camp in Idaho. (Photo courtesy of Seattle Historical Theatre Project)
“Friends Across the Wires” takes place throughout the Pacific Northwest, including Seattle and the Minidoka internment camp in Idaho. (Photo courtesy of Seattle Historical Theatre Project)

On Feb. 19, 1942, over two months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which led to the internment of 112,000 Japanese-Americans.

Over 80 years later, the Seattle Historical Theatre Project is presenting the first live production tour of “Friends Across the Wires,” an original play that explores the impact the incarceration of Japanese-Americans had on those living in Seattle.

Written and directed by Laura Ferri, the play is based around two teenage best friends, Kiyoko and Peggy, and the local affects of World War II, from the bombing of Pearl Harbor through Kiyoko’s return home after being sent to the Minidoka internment camp in Idaho.

After debuting in Seattle on March 17, the play will be performed at the Renton Library on Saturday, April 1.

Much like her most recent play “The Ruins of Memory: Women’s Voices of the Holocaust,” the play was created after extensive research and built from personal interviews and primary sources.

According to the Seattle Historical Theatre Project, the play is “designed to teach about the incarceration while examining themes of friendship, injustice and resilience.”

Tickets to the “Friends Across the Wires” tour are free because of funding from 4Culture Arts and Heritage and Kip Tokuda Memorial Washington Civil Liberties Public Education, along with other program grants.

“Friends Across the Wires” will continue throughout the South Sound area until Tuesday, April 18.

– Saturday, March 25 at White River Valley Museum in Auburn at 2 p.m.

– Saturday, April 1 at Renton Library, 100 Mill Ave. S. in Renton at 2 p.m.

– Thursday, April 6 at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park at 6:30 p.m.

– Friday, April 14 at Washington State Fairgrounds in Puyallup at 6:30 p.m., where the performance is free with admission to the Spring Fair

– Sunday, April 16 at Wallingford United Methodist Church in Seattle at 3 p.m.

– Tuesday, April 18 at Vashon Center for the Arts in Vashon at 7 p.m.

– For tickets and more details, visit seattlehistoricalt.wixsite.com/seattle-historical-t or contact seattlehistoricaltheatre@gmail.com.