Firehall Arts Centre Presents YELLOW FEVER, May 28- June 12

The Firehall Arts Centre closes its 2021-2022 Reunion Season with the presentation of its production, Yellow Fever, from Saturday, May 28 to Sunday, June 12.

Yellow Fever is an award-winning comic mystery by R.A. Shiomi that follows hard-nosed private eye 'Sam Shikaze' as he investigates the disappearance of the mysterious 'Cherry Blossom Queen'.

Set on Powell Street in the 1970s, Yellow Fever deftly navigates complex threads of political intrigue, racism, and police corruption with a sharp wit and fast-paced dialogue. A cornerstone in the Japanese-Canadian theatre canon, this is the first time in over 30 years that Yellow Fever will be presented in Nihonmachi (Japantown), the neighbourhood in which it is set.

Directed by Donna Spencer and featuring performances by Hiro Kanagawa, Craig Erickson, Yukari Komatsu, Henry Mah, Jay Ono, Evan Rien, Agnes Tong and Raugi Yu, with stage management by Caryn Fehr, this special production will mount Yellow Fever in the style of a radio play.

"In choosing to bring Yellow Fever back to the Firehall for our Reunion Season - 34 years after we first produced it - I was considering how times appear to have changed, but have they really?," says Spencer. "In creating the work, playwright Rick Shiomi cleverly introduces us to a private detective whose beat is Vancouver's Powell Street after the Second World War. It seems on the surface that times have changed, and a very determined Japanese-Canadian, Kenji Kadota, has been allowed to join the police force. However, when the Cherry Blossom Queen goes missing, his connection between civic duty and community are put into question. With Associate Director Raugi Yu and the wonderfully talented creative team, we are exploring a staging concept that is part radio drama and part live performance, with audiences taking a role as the studio audience, hearing and seeing the radio drama being created."

For more information on the Firehall Arts Centre, please visit the following platforms:
Website: www.firehallartscentre.ca.