Aratani Theatre Hosts THE CAMP — Preview

A spokesperson describes the event as follows:

“...In 1942, during World War II, 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry—two-thirds of whom were American citizens—were unjustly incarcerated in concentration camps within the United States. Inspired by these events, a new American opera titled The Camp makes its world premiere, presented in partnership with the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, with four performances from February 22 to March 2, 2025 at the JACCC Aratani Theatre in Los Angeles.

Created by librettist Lionelle Hamanaka, a descendant of camp survivors, and composer Daniel Kessner, The Camp tells the moving story of the Shimono family, Japanese Americans forcibly removed from their suburban home in Southern California. After Mas, a fisherman and the head of the household, is arrested by the FBI on suspicion of espionage, the family is reunited in a desolate incarceration camp. As the family struggles to survive the emotional and physical toll of their wrongful imprisonment, this poignant, new opera illuminates the remarkable strength of familial bonds and the power of collective resistance in the face of injustice..."