A new Asian American theater company journeys to the west Direct Arts performs Paper Angels in Portsmouth Square in San Francisco to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Angel Island, the Ellis Island of the West:
Wed to Fri, Sept 15, 16 and 17
Play begins at dusk
Portsmouth Square, San Francisco
(Grant Street at Clay Street)
Free admission
www.directarts.org
Set in 1915 during the Chinese Exclusion Act, PAPER ANGELS is about an elderly Chinese railroad worker whose attempt to bring his wife to America after 40 years of separation leads to their detainment on Angel Island, the Ellis Island of the West. A seminal play by San Francisco native Genny Lim, the play premiered in 1982 and was subsequently filmed for American Playhouse on PBS starring James Hong and Joan Chen. Dusting off this prescient gem nearly three decades later in the wake of heated debates on America’s immigration policy, Direct Arts’ new multimedia production incorporates projections of archival images, live traditional Chinese music, spoken word and segments of Chinese opera and folk dance.
