Tags
comfort women, East Asian Occupation, Hudson Fine Arts Foundation, human trafficking, japan, Jewel Box Theater, kidnapping, korea, Lincoln Center, NYC, performance, sex slavery, theater, World War II
“The whole story of the comfort women, the system of forced sexual slavery, the medical experiments of Unit 731, is not something that is in the US psyche.”
-Iris Chang
For the last few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to work on a brand new piece of theater in New York City, called “COMFORT WOMEN,”
written and directed by JungHan Kim,
produced by Lucio Fernandez,
and sponsored by the Hudson Fine Arts Foundation
In almost no time at all, the cast and crew has staged this production and we are in the midst of our run, which will last through August 8th with performances at the Jewel Box Theater in downtown NYC and at the Bruno Walters Theater at Lincoln Center
I play a young women named Roksun, who has been kidnapped and forced to become a Comfort Woman, a sex slave for Japanese soldiers during the occupation of East Asia during WWII.
About the production,
“Comfort” deals with the horrific acts of violence towards “Comfort Women” or “sex slaves” by the Japanese during World War II. The Japanese government would kidnap young girls as young as 14 years old from various countries including China and Korea and send them to their soldiers in the battlefield to “comfort” them. Details from some survivors attest to being raped fifty to two hundred times a day. But, more so, the play dares to bring forth the difficult subject of sex trafficking and physical abuse of women world-wide. The current political issues around this topic are expressed through movement and straight dialogue. In the play, the leading character “Peter” must produce a documentary film about Comfort Women, but his boss disagrees with Peter’s chosen subject matter. In the meantime, Peter meets “Roksun”, a comfort woman, in his dream. With a great mix between experimental movement & poetry about serious political matter the play presents an important subject in a palpable artistic way.
The first review of the production has been recently written and printed by Dong-A, Korea’s largest newspaper
who wrote,
“when the comfort woman “Rokson” said “stop! Stop! Stop'”, all american audience cried.”
“On July 18, 2014, “Comfort” opened at the Jewel Box Theatre in New York City. While the program notes gave the reader background information regarding this politically charged issue in a more “poetic” fashion, onstage, the viewer was given a more direct and blunt approach, making for some very powerful and graphic images.”
“The play is about an hour in duration and was quite effective. Not only did the members of the cast shed tears by the end of the play, many, if not all of the people in the audience, were seen wiping their eyes.”
I have been very fortunate to be a part of such talented cast and crew, dedicated to sharing this story about the crimes against these women, and the horrors of human trafficking.
To purchase tickets to see the production at the Jewel Box Theater or Lincoln Center, please view the information below.
Jewel Box Theatre
@WorkShop Theatre Company
312 West 36th Street, 4th Floor
NYC
Friday, July 18th @ 6:00 PM
Saturday, July 19th @ 7:00 PM
Saturday, July 26th @ 1:00 PM
Sunday, July 27th @ 6:30 PM
Friday, August 1st @ 7:30 PM
Admission: $18.00
For tickets, please visit: http://www.midtownfestival.org
or call: 866-811-4111
***
Special Gala Performances of “Comfort” on Monday, August 4th and Friday, August 8th, 2014 at The Bruno Walter Auditorium @ Lincoln Center, NYC. Special guests at the Gala Performances will be South Korean victims from World War II (“Comfort Women”) as well as other dignitaries.
The Bruno Walter Auditorium
@ Lincoln Center, NYC
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
Entrance at 111 Amsterdam Avenue, just below 65th Street
NYC
Gala Performances – “Comfort”
Monday, August 4th @ 7:00 PM
Friday, August 8th @ 7:00 PM
Admission: $18.00
For tickets, please visit: http://www.SmartTix.com
or call: 212-868-4444
For further information, please visit: http://www.HudsonFoundation.org or http://www.GraceTheatre.com