Okinawa Field Trip Program
Georgetown University Theater & Performance Studies Program Home Season
at the Davis Performing Arts Center
presents
Okinawa Field Trip
Developed by Prof. Natsu Onoda Power and the Ensemble
Monday, April 19 – Thursday, April 22 at 7 p.m.
Monday, April 26 – Thursday, April 29 at 7 p.m.
Part of the Davis Performing Arts Center’s 2020-21 Virtual Season, “Seeds of Change: Reimagining the World,” programmed by Artistic Director Prof. Maya E. Roth.
NOTE FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Welcome to Okinawa Field Trip, conceived by the always-inventive, multidisciplinary Professor Natsu Onoda Power, working in collaboration with Georgetown students, diverse guest artists, and our Davis Center Staff to craft inventive cross-cultural exchange. These field trips represent an ambitious experiment in how to create theater—and community—that moves across media, modes, borders and skill-sets! What better multidisciplinary project to highlight as our mainstage season finale for the Theater & Performance Studies’ ‘Seeds of Change’ home season from the Davis Center than Okinawa Field Trip? For this interactive, multidisciplinary project leverages our pandemic moment of virtual and hybrid performance to reimagine the field—and education. Our direct encounters with Okinawan artists and activists —as well as Georgetown students—is a special gift of this event, made possible by Natsu, at core, and, too, many Georgetown resources (from our exceptional Davis Staff in situ with Doug E. in the Davis Center’s labs, to season programming and donor funds). Thank you for joining us. Just as Georgetown community audiences (including alumni and classes) are joining in from all over the globe for each of these eight field trips, so too are the makers joining in nightly from diverse sites in DC, Okinawa, and across the US. Hats off to the prodigious artistic and social imagination of our team of collaborators —professionals, alums, students, staff—working with Natsu across multiple sites in two countries, fusing learning laboratory with multimedia theatrical creation. It’s a gift to get to travel with you, across space, time and perspective.
Warm Regards,
Maya Roth, Ph.D.
Artistic Director, Davis Performing Arts Center
ENSEMBLE CAST
MJ Ninal (C’24) as MJ
Taelor A. Logan (C’22) as Taelor
Colum Goebelbecker (C’21) as Colum
Chase Hawthorne (C’21) as Alfred (Ghost Soldier), Translator, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and others
Sam Cormier (C’21) as Doug E. Dugong
Martha Winslow (C’21) as Kijimuna
PRODUCTION TEAM
Bethany Taylor – Production Manager
Kirby Crane, COL ’21 – Stage Manager
Eugeniu Cuznetov – Assistant Stage Manager
Kelly Colburn – Co-Video Designer
Nitsan Scharf – Co-Video Designer
Bobbie Benjamin (C’21) – Video Editor
Sean Craig (C’16) – Sound Designer
Daniel Wheelock (C’19) – Composer
Alberto Segarra – Lighting Designer
Dorothy Driggers – Costumes, Makeup, and Puppet Designer
Kellan Oelkers (C’21) – Production Technician
Martha Winslow (C’21) – Production Technician
BIOS
Natsu Onoda Power (Creator/Director) is a Professor in the GU Theater & Performance Studies Program, specializing in adapting non-dramatic texts into new works of visual theater. Original works (writing/ adapting/ directing) include Thumbelina at Imagination Stage; The Lathe of Heaven at Spooky Action Theater/ Georgetown; Alice in Wonderland with National Players; Wind Me Up, Maria!: A Go-Go Musical at Georgetown University; Astro Boy and the God of Comics at the Studio Theater and Company One Theater, Boston. She is the recipient of two Elliot Norton Awards (for Outstanding Direction and Production Design), two Helen Hayes Awards (Outstanding New Adaptation and Outstanding Set Design), as well as a DC Commission in the Arts fellowship. Onoda Power holds a Ph.D. from Northwestern University, and is the author of God of Comics: Osamu Tezuka and the Creation of Post- World War II Manga (The University Press of Mississippi, 2009). She would like to say a great big “niffe debiru” to her cast, production team, and all of her collaborators in Okinawa.
Atsushi Agarie (Advisor and Additional Cinematography) has worked with Okinawan musicians for over forty years, both as a live and recording engineer. He has recorded and arranged in diverse genres ranging from rock to folk to classical Okinawan music. He currently lives in Okinawa City, where he runs a recording studio Igaloo Sound Studio. Igaloo is a word that means “we/us” in the local dialect of Katsuren, where he grew up.
Kelly Colburn (Co-Projections Designer) is DC-based multi-disciplinary artist working as a producer, director, designer, and deviser for live performance. She is the Artistic Lead for Theatre at Flying V as well as the Digital Producer at Theater Alliance. She is a DCCAH Fellowship Awardee, a recipient of a 2019 Helen Hayes Award for Lighting/Projections Design for Blood At The Root (co-received with Alberto Segarra), a 2017-2018 NextLOOK Resident and a recipient of the 2018 Jim Henson Puppetry Grant. BFA NYU Tisch ’11 | MFA UMD ’18. www.kellycolburn.com
Sam Cormier (C’21, Doug E. Dugong) is a senior in the College studying Psychology and Spanish and minoring in Performing Arts. He is thrilled to have an opportunity to participate in such an innovative international production during his last semester on campus. Fellow vegetarians, Sam and Doug bonded over their love of beautiful oceans and delicious seagrass. Sam is truly grateful for being able to learn about Okinawan history and meet so many talented Okinawan artists through this project.
Sean T. Craig (C’16, Sound Design) is a Georgetown alum with degrees in theater and performance studies, music, and English. Before Okinawa Field Trip, Sean sound designed multiple shows for Georgetown’s Department of Performing Arts, including War with the Newts, Wind Me Up, Maria!, and In the Next Room, or the vibrator play. In addition to sound design, Sean is a non-profit administrator and a freelance music critic. You can find all of his work on his website, MixedFrequencies.org.
Kirby Crane (C’21, Stage Manager) is a senior from Alabama, majoring in Computer Science. He’s been involved with theatre all throughout his time at Georgetown as a light designer on Hello Again and JB, and the stage manager of the 2018 Donn B. Murphy One-Acts Festival. He’d like to thank the cast and crew for making this process a great one.
Eugeniu Cuznetov (Santa Monica College ‘21, Assistant Stage Manager) is an international student from Moldova, currently studying at Santa Monica College in California. He aspires to transfer to a four-year university and earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Theater & Performance Studies. Eugeniu is fond of theater because he believes that life is a romanticized stage. On it, people play various roles, and Eugeniu admires those who go off script to improvise and deliver an unexpected point of view. Eugeniu thanks Dr. Natsu Onoda Power and Georgetown’s Department of Performing Arts for the opportunity to be a part of a unique project such as Okinawa Field Trip. Eugeniu applied to Georgetown University as a transfer student for Fall 2021 and is patiently waiting for the decision from the admission committee.
Claire Derriennic (Kamishibai Advisor) is a theatre maker focusing on theatre for youth. A Georgetown alum, she credits Natsu for sparking her interest in performance objects — and would like to thank Natsu, MJ, Taelor, and Bobbie for the opportunity to collaborate on this project! Claire has studied Bunraku puppetry in Japan and assistant directed puppet productions at Imagination Stage and the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, Georgia. She has also created two kamishibai, Sleeping Beauty and Little Red Riding Hood, which retell fairy tales with a focus on consent. She plans to continue exploring similar themes while pursuing her MFA in Theatre for Young Audiences at the University of Texas. Her work can be seen at clairederriennic.com.
Dorothy Barnes Driggers (Costumes, Makeup, and Puppet Designer) is a costume designer and technician in the Washington, DC area. She earned her MFA from Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL. Her most recent design credits include Snow Day for Arts on the Horizon. Mary Poppins at Central Piedmont Summer Theatre, Madeline’s War at the Volks Theatre in Vienna, Austria, and the 2012 spring season at Seaside Rep in Seaside, Florida. While not designing, she manages the costume shop at Georgetown University and acts as the costume coordinator and stylist for the Maryland Lyric Opera.
Doug E. Dugong (Tour Guide) is a staff member in the Office of Oblong Education at Georgetown University. He is very excited to take you on this field trip to his native land, Okinawa. He is a dugong and he likes seagrass. He would like to thank his parents, Darla and Daisuke Dugong, as well as Dorothy who is not a dugong but still helped him come into this world.
Chase Hawthorne (C’21, Alfred (Ghost Soldier), Translator, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and others) is a fifth year in the college, and is a Theater & Performance Studies major from Pittsburgh, PA.
Rio Inyaku (Guest Artist; Original Music) is a composer and musician, specializing in kankara sanshin. Rio was born in Tokyo in 2001, but moved to Okinawa in 2011. He discovered kankara sanshin at age 10, and started creating original music at 14. He is currently a student at Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts, specializing in traditional Okinawan music. Rio has performed at numerous competitions, festivals, and concerts, including “World Eisa Contest” held at the National Theater Okinawa (2017). His work has frequently been featured on local, national, and international media. Rio released his album Ryukyu Revolution in 2019. He is the author of two books, I Chose Myself to Be Born and God Gave Me a Path.
http://riomusic.rederio.jp
Taelor A. Logan (C’22, Historian) is pursuing her masters at Georgetown. A student of MAGIC (Master of Arts in Global, International, and Comparative History), her focus is on the history of the trilateral relationship between the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom. She is also interested in how this relationship connects to environmental resource conservation. Taelor loves the Japanese culture and enjoys learning new things about the nation, from the language to politics to cuisine recipes. Outside of schoolwork, she is active in the Georgetown community as a member of GradGov (graduate student government), advocating for the inclusivity of grad students. For relaxation, she enjoys spoiling her Shetland Sheepdog, Reid. She hopes that attendees of this play will be encouraged to learn more about Okinawa and its relationship to mainland Japan and the United States, but overall, the incredible value Okinawan natives have in peace and harmony.
MJ Ninal (C’24, Kamishibai Crew) is a freshman Japanese major in the College. She is from Anchorage, Alaska but lived in Japan for eight years (five years in Okinawa and three years in Tokyo). She is grateful for the opportunity to learn more about Okinawa through this project and retouch its unique culture. Her favorite part of Okinawa Field Trip is working with the hilarious cast and crew, and Okinawan artists and specialists. After college, MJ aspires to work in the Asia-Pacific region to learn more about the many diverse cultures. She would like to build relationships between the U.S. and these countries based on mutual understanding and appreciation of each other.
Maya E. Roth (Davis Center Artistic Director) was founding Artistic Director of the Davis Performing Arts Center—a role which she again fills. As artist and scholar, she specializes in plays that engage cross-culturally (both via new works and adaptations of classics) and theater that interweaves psychic and social stakes. She has incubated and worked on premieres of dozens of new works, including as Heather Raffo’s developmental dramaturge for Fallujah! (City Opera Vancouver, NY City Opera) and Noura (Shakespeare Theatre & Playwrights Horizon). Maya stewards the Jane Chambers Prize for feminist playwriting whose recent winners include Martyna Majok (Queens) and Christine Evans (Trojan Barbie), among others. Her co-edited volume Lesbian and Queer Plays from the Jane Chambers Prize was released in 2019. She specializes in the plays of Basque-British Playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker. Maya founded Georgetown’s major in Theater & Performance Studies. She finds great joy in teaching. She thanks her sassy, sweet son Yul and kind spouse Bill for laughter. Her Ph.D. is from Berkeley.
Alberto Segarra (Lighting Designer) is a lighting designer/production manager who holds a BA from the University of Puerto Rico and a MFA in Lighting Design from UMD – College Park. He has served as Production Manager for Chesapeake Arts Center in Brooklyn Park, MD; as Lighting Designer, Lighting Supervisor, and Tour Manager for Aquila Theatre Company; and Resident Lighting Designer for Andanza Compañía de Danza Contemporánea in San Juan. DC lighting design credits: Earthrise (Kennedy Center), Cat in the Hat (Adventure Theater), Blood at the Root – Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lighting Design (Theater Alliance) , As You Like It: The Musical (Keegan Theatre), Blueberries for Sal (Adventure Theatre), and The Agitators (Mosaic Theatre).
Fumiko Shimabukuro (voice in The History of Okinawa) has protested the construction of the new Marine base in Henoko for the last 25 years. Having survived the Battle of Okinawa at age 15, she believes that military bases never protect residents, but will always lead to war. She has been invited to give speeches at numerous venues around the country, and her activism has been featured in national and international media. 91-year-old Fumiko still participates in the daily sit-in in front of the Camp Schwab gate most days of the week.
Chibana Tatsumi (Guest Artist, Original Music) has created original music since 1999, mixing rock, reggae, hip-hop, and Okinawan folk. Tatsumi is one of the original members of the bands DUTY FREE SHOPP as well as Expiration Date. Tatsumi’s albums include: Karminuku (2001); New World (2014); and Otoashagi (2006, co-produced with rapper Kakumakushaka). His 2004 song “People’s Domino” (with Kakumakushaka) received much media attention as it dealt with the incident of the US military helicopter crashing on a university campus in Okinawa. As a producer, he hosted the outdoor music festival “Peace Music Festa! Henoko” from 2007 to 2010. He was commissioned to compose a student song for Okinawa University, his alma mater, in 2014. Tatsumi is the first-ever recipient of the Jury’s Special Award for a “rap speech” for NHK Youth Message, a national speech competition.
http://akagawara.com
Bethany Taylor (Production Manager) received her BA from Marymount Manhattan College. She is coming from Brooklyn, NY as of the last 12 years. In over 15 years of being in a theatre, she has ventured through most of the country touring productions, built scene shops from the ground up, managed Off-broadway, taken a yoga festival around the US and Canada, and more. Her foundation is built by her partner Tim, family, and animal cuddles.
Daniel Wheelock (C’19, Composer) graduated from Georgetown in 2019 after four amazing years of working with TPST. During his time with the Department, he was Assistant Stage Manager for Twelfth Night, Stage Manager for Wind Me Up, Maria!, and Sound Designer for Speech and Debate. He is thrilled to join this production as a Composer and hopes that you enjoy the show!
Martha Winslow (C’21, Kijimuna) is a senior majoring in TPST and minoring in Sociology. She is originally from Dallas, Texas, and will be moving back there after graduation to pursue a career in education. In the past, she has worked on the design and technical side of shows at Georgetown, but this is her first acting role, which is both terrifying and exciting. She has loved learning new things in this very weird year for theater and is so thankful to have gotten to spend some time in DPAC during her last semester at Georgetown. She sincerely hopes that you enjoy the show. Ichariba cho de!
Hideki Yoshikawa is a Nago resident anthropologist teaching at Meio University and the University of the Ryukyus, International Director of the Save the Dugong Campaign Center, and Director of the Okinawa Environmental Justice Project. He has published numerous articles on the issues of environment and U.S. bases in Okinawa, Japan, including several major articles at The Asia-Pacific Journal.
SPECIAL THANKS
Atsushi Agarie
Tatsumi Chibana
Rio Inyaku
Noriko Inyaku
Fumiko Shimabukuro
Ritsuko Mizutani
Masanori Okuma
Charles Douglas Lummis
Soyica Colbert
Hideki Yoshikawa
James Riley
Keiko Yonaha
Haley Lentz
T. Sampson
Tim Jarmon
Steve Rabson
T-SHIRTS
Purchase an “Okinawa Field Trip” t-shirt! All proceeds benefit the Okinawa Environmental Justice Project. (new window) Working with civil society and international institutions, the Okinawa Environmental Justice project strives to protect the environment of Okinawa, Japan.
Please note: Georgetown will not be directly receiving any of the funds and is not responsible for orders that are placed through Custom Ink. Anyone who makes a purchase will not receive any receipt/gift receipt from Georgetown.
ABOUT
GU THEATER & PERFORMANCE STUDIES PROGRAM
Prof. Derek Goldman, Director
Housed in the Davis Performing Arts Center, the Georgetown University Theater & Performance Studies Program features a nationally recognized faculty of leading scholar/artists and professional practitioners who offer a dynamic interdisciplinary major that emphasizes the interaction of artistic and analytic inquiry. The Program has rapidly attracted significant national attention for its distinctive curriculum, which integrates the political and international character of Georgetown, a commitment to social justice, and high-quality, cutting-edge production seasons, including world premieres. In 2012, Backstage selected the Program as one of the top five college theater programs outside of New York City. performingarts.georgetown.edu
DAVIS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Prof. Maya E. Roth, Artistic Director
Opened in November 2005 as Georgetown University’s first building designed for the arts, the Davis Performing Arts Center is the research and teaching laboratory for the Theater & Performance Studies Program and houses the administrative office of the Department of Performing Arts. Since its 2005-06 inaugural season, the Davis Center has hosted a thematically linked home season of cutting-edge productions for the Theater and Performance Studies Program, featuring cutting-edge productions committed to diversity and artistic risk-taking. We have presented numerous new works and adaptations, DC premieres, bold re-imaginings of classics, important contemporary plays, and student-devised productions.
Our mainstage productions have engaged deep collaborations with nationally renowned artists (Sojourn Theatre, Heather Raffo, The Neo-Futurists), acclaimed local companies (Synetic Theater, Spooky Action Theater, a 14-year partnership with Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater), local universities (Gallaudet University, University of Maryland), and on-campus programs such as the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics and frequent co-productions with GU’s student theater companies (including Black Theatre Ensemble, Mask and Bauble, and Nomadic Theatre).
FRIENDS OF TPST AND THE DAVIS CENTER
Andrew R. Ammerman (F’72)
Joyce J. Gorman and Joseph A. Fanone (C’ 71, L’ 74)
Alumni Leadership Circle
Interim Dean Soyica Colbert
Provost Robert Groves
The Kelley Family
Mark Kenyon
Stephen J. & Mary Ann Seleman
MAKING NEW WORLDS FUND
The Making New Worlds Fund supports the academic, artistic, and professional development of our students. The Georgetown University Theater & Performance Studies Program would like to thank our friends and alumni who have contributed to the Making New Worlds Fund, especially the following for their generosity:
James and Susannah Prout, Rita Ciocca, Art Murphy, Thomas Scanlan, the Leen Foundation, The Children’s Trust, Sharmila Achari (C’04), Adam Bacigalupo (C’16), Matt Beshke (SFS’18), Brian Bies (B’18), Meg Cairns (C’90), Anna Calogero (F’18), Dave Childs (F’04), Christina M. Ciocca (C’05), Gabriel Cohn (N’19), Kate Creevy (C’94), Fred Dews (F’91, MPP’96), Catherine Dolan (C’12), Michael Donnay (C’16), Olivia Duff (C’16), Thomas B. Evans (C’08), Patrick Flynn (C’09), Ray Gao (C’19), Diane Giangreco (C’13), Jess Gitner (C’09), Matthew Green (F’78), Jeremy Guyton (C’12), David Hanna (C’14), Samuel Hartmann (C’19), Jordanna Hernandez (C’15),Anne Marie Huntington (C’19), Mary Ann (C’86, L’90, P’19/23) and Kent Huntington (L’91, P’19/23), Jeffrey (F’88) and Shannon Jamison, Josh Karch (C’91), Kathy Kelly (F’99), Wieslaw and Mariola Klis (P’10), Sarah Kelly Konig (C’16), Alex Kostura (F’09), Rachel League (B’18), Elise Lemle (C’10), Ann Ludtke (MSB’18), Dustin Maghamfar (C’06), Alexandra McCourt (B’15), Catherine Meyendorff (F’11), Michael Mitchell (C’10), Thomas Moakley (SFS’17), Joseph (B’94) and Nancy Nowalk, Caitlin Ouano (C’17), Cynthia E. Pekron (SFS’07), Kate Porterfield (C’86), Colin Pritchard (F’99), Brendan Quinn (C’14, L’18), Jennifer Rogers (C’06), Alexandra Rose (L’19), Erika (F’92) and Jeff (C’87) Schoppert, Ana-Alicia Siqueiros (C’11, MA’12) and Sean Herrie, Elly Straske (C’16), Caroline (C’00) and Brent Stone, Susan Swope (F’65), The Burke Family Charitable Fund, Joelle Thomas (F’10), Bridget (F’79) and Russell (D’79) Tibbetts (P’06/18/23), David Turer (B’16), Obehi Utubor (F’09), Annie Valik (B’06), Amelia Walsh (SFS’20), Cornell Womack (C’93), Isaiah Wooden (C’04), Allison Zatta (C’07).
Support the Making New Worlds Fund.
To make a donation to the Fund, please visit the Making New Worlds Donation Page.
Also part of the Davis Center’s 15th Anniversary Seeds of Change virtual season…
Saturday, April 24, 2021 at 8 p.m. ET (Viewing Party)
Sunbath
Created by Fatima Dyfan (C’21)
Co-Produced by Black Theatre Ensemble and Theater & Performance Studies Home Season
Directed by Mar Cox (C ’16)
Stage Managed by Erin Crowder (C’22)
Advised by Prof. Maya E. Roth
There’s a Little Black Girl in the window. Coily haired… always scared… waiting in the window for the morning light to wash me. Look beloved, you glow. With just that little bit of sun, you can grow. This is the remix to Black womanhood for the Black community – wellness, the journey and drama, history, and of course, the trauma. It all goes to a beat. And, in this mixed-media piece for several performers – we are talking about movement and jokes, music I listen to that my mama told me, don’t, a freestyle of memories and prayer.
This new work by Senior Fatima Dyfan, an African American Studies major and TPST minor, celebrates the magical journey of a Black radical feminist in the making. Featured in the Davis Performing Arts Center’s Seeds of Change: Reimagining the World 15th Anniversary Season.