Oregon Children's Theatre's production of The Journal of Ben Uchida is cancelled. For more information, please visit OCT's website: https://www.octc.org/blog-directory/covid-19

‘This is a story about war, but it’s not about soldiers or battles or fighter planes or warships. It’s about people like my sister and my mother. It’s about people like my father. It’s about neighbors and strangers.’

In 1942, 12-year-old Ben Uchida and his family are forcibly removed from their home in San Francisco and imprisoned at Mirror Lake, an American concentration camp, along with hundreds of thousands of other Japanese-American families. In this unfamiliar place, removed from everything he once knew, Ben’s emotional journey is even more upsetting than his physical one.

Originally commissioned by the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, this play details—with anger, despair, sadness, and hope—a dark chapter in this country’s history; it tells a story that is relevant, moving, and one that cannot be forgotten.

“The marvelous thing…is that it provides a safe space to examine a scary world. It provides an opening for kids to have the conversations that adults don’t want to have.”
–Courtney Sale, Seattle Children’s Theatre

The Big Ideas
Hearing personal stories are a powerful way to learn about painful historical events.
Remembering family and relationships can help in difficult times.
Learning about your family’s history and culture is important.

Recommended for ages 10 and up

Content Advisory
This show uses historically accurate language (from the 1940s/WWII), including racial slurs, and bias-motivated violence. Additionally, the play contains visual imagery and indirect references to suicide in the concentration camp. The word suicide is not used in the play, nor is the act dramatized or seen on stage.

Schedule
February 29–March 22, 2020
Saturdays at 2pm & 5pm
Sundays at 11am & 2pm
Friday, March 6 & Friday, March 13 at 7pm

Runtime: 60 minutes