Lunatique Fantastique's EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066 Returns 2/19

The Marsh is pleased to announce the return of Lunatique Fantastique's EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066 in which Liebe Wetzel's troupe uses their trademark style of "Live 3D Animation" to recount the story of a Japanese family's incarceration in a World War II internment camp. Beginning on February 19, 1942, approximately 110,000 ethnic Japanese and people of Japanese decent living on the west coast were forcibly removed from their homes and held in remote camps in California and Utah. Over half of the internees were children. This incarceration was the result of the infamous Executive Order 9066, signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the wake of Pearl Harbor. In June 2005, EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066 was performed at The Topaz Museum in Delta, Utah, site of the internment camp featured in the play, at ceremonies commemorating the 60th anniversary of the camp's closing. Later in 2005, the play ran at The Marsh to great critical acclaim.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066 plays on Saturday at 1:00 pm, from March 7 through April 25, 2009 (press opening Marsh 7) at The Marsh, 1062 Valencia Street. For tickets, the public may call Brown Paper Tickets at 800-838-3006 or visit www.themarsh.org.

The original cast interviewed internees, their children and retired military as well as studying letters from that time. Wetzel said, "it was important that we created the show from original sources." Also, Lunatique Fantastique consulted with The Japanese American Museum of San Jose, The Topaz Museum in Delta, Utah and the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.

The show is dedicated to Donna Nomura Dobkin, a textile artist, doll maker and puppeteer who always wanted to tell the story of her family's incarceration. Sadly, Dobkin died before she realized this dream. When Lunatique Fantastique performed at Donna's funeral, Wetzel found a collection of objects (weathered wood, a suitcase, sand and rusty nails) which inspired this story. "I could not write the story that Donna would have written, but this story is dedicated to her memory and our friendship," said Wetzel. When she told Keith Nomura, Donna's brother, that the company wanted to borrow his family's dishes to star on The Marsh stage, Keith replied, "You do my family a great honor with this performance."

Wetzel is excited to work once again with the multi-talented composer Shinji Eshima, an award-winning composer whose original music is a new addition to this 2009 production. Eshima, a graduate of Stanford University and the Juilliard School of Music, is a member of the San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Ballet orchestras and is on the faculty of San Francisco State University and the San Francisco Conservatory Of Music. "Shinji's music is so moving, so timeless, so sweeping, and his melodies will haunt you for weeks," says Wetzel. Because of his family's experience with Executive Order 9066, Eshima is extremely excited to be involved in creating a musical score to accompany this show.

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