Transcending the Belly of the Beast

by LJ Morizono

In December 1942, world events encroach upon a West Oakland community. Ken Mori, a Japanese immigrant, and his friend Lou Henderson, African American, witness the momentous changes and upheavals affecting their neighborhood. As they watch the unraveling of their community and city, they find themselves facing unprecedented challenges leading to an unknown future. A story about friendship that transcended...

In December 1942, world events encroach upon a West Oakland community. Ken Mori, a Japanese immigrant, and his friend Lou Henderson, African American, witness the momentous changes and upheavals affecting their neighborhood. As they watch the unraveling of their community and city, they find themselves facing unprecedented challenges leading to an unknown future. A story about friendship that transcended turbulent times and racial attitudes.

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Transcending the Belly of the Beast

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  • Playwrights Foundation: Transcending the Belly of the Beast by LJ Morizono
    “

    The community of National Committee readers for the 46th Bay Area Playwrights Festival advanced TRANSCENDING THE BELLY OF THE BEAST as a Semi-Finalist at Playwrights Foundation. Readers leaned into the representation of Oakland during Japanese Incarceration/WWII, especially how changes in the neighborhood impacted each character and the community's legacy of resistance. We appreciated the play's promise dramatizing friendships between communities with an approaching war and open racist violence, and how characters made high stakes, life-altering decisions. We hope this play is considered for...

    The community of National Committee readers for the 46th Bay Area Playwrights Festival advanced TRANSCENDING THE BELLY OF THE BEAST as a Semi-Finalist at Playwrights Foundation. Readers leaned into the representation of Oakland during Japanese Incarceration/WWII, especially how changes in the neighborhood impacted each character and the community's legacy of resistance. We appreciated the play's promise dramatizing friendships between communities with an approaching war and open racist violence, and how characters made high stakes, life-altering decisions. We hope this play is considered for further development and investigation, and finds dedicated collaborators in this play’s journey towards production. #BAPF46

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    ”