“For death may come, with brow unpleasant . . . May come when least we wish him present . . “
Death is always nearby. Today it’s on the opposite side of the world, but our latest news brings it close and into our living rooms. Our very intimate local production house meets death with a gentle smile and a little laughter.
Dukesbay Theatre presents God Says This by playwright Leah Nanako Winkler, a prize-winning Japanese American playwright from Kamakura, Japan and Lexington, Kentucky, currently living in New York City.
When mother Masaka is hospitalized with a rare, aggressive cancer, her estranged Kentucky family is forced into an uneasy reunion. The dysfunctional family is called together to resolve personal issues with each other and to say goodbye to their mother. Can they take care of her and their sense of family, too?
“God Said This” is complex and with a hold nothing back honesty about dysfunctional families and the strategies to cope that may ultimately divide the family further. It is the first play in a long time that does not castigate born again Christianity as a coping mechanism. It has emotional generosity.”— Paula Vogel, author of Indecent
“A stunning, painfully complicated, funny, and compassionately rendered story of an American family. I identified with it so deeply and it made me feel more compassion and love for my own family and their struggles. Brava.”—Heidi Schreck, author of What the Constitution Means to Me
“Whether identifying as black, female, Latinx, queer, trans, Native American, Asian-American, Arab-American, disabled, Muslim, biracial or any combination thereof, playwrights traditionally marginalized in the theater face a second problem if their work finally ekes its way to the stage. They often feel pressure, from critics and producers, to depict globally and endorse unequivocally their diverse communities — which is bad for them and worse for their stories.” The New York Times by Jesse Green
Call it vexation without representation.
God Said This is the first winner of 2018 winner of the Yale Drama Series Prize. Winkler’s earlier play Two Mile Hollow won the Francesca Primus Prize. She is a recipient of a 2020 Steinberg Prize in Distinguished Playwrighting.
“God Said This” runs from March 18 to April 3, 2022 at Dukesbay Theatre at 508 South 7th Avenue in Tacoma. Tickets are $15 for general admission; it is presented on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2 pm. For tickets, go to http://DukesbayGodSaidThis.eventbrite.com. For inquiries, call (253) 350-7860.
The mission of Dukesbay Theatre is to mount productions that showcase the works of theatre artists of all ethnicities.
