Certain writers of fiction capture a place, its ideals and unique characteristics so perfectly that they become inseparable from that location in the public’s mind.
Through experiencing a place via these words and the stories, readers can actually begin to feel as if they’ve been there themselves.
Ernest Hemingway ensured himself as the literary godfather of Paris with his classic memoir, “A Moveable Feast.” Baltimore, of course, was the city which the great H. L. Mencken chose to call home, always in his own uniquely worded mixture of criticism and reporting. And Alaska’s wildest frontiers will always belong to Jack London.
Bainbridge Island is David Guterson’s territory.
The former Bainbridge High School teacher’s 1994 debut novel received the PEN/Faulkner Award and the American Booksellers Association of the Year Award and also inspired an award-winning motion picture adaptation in 1999 starring Ethan Hawke, James Cromwell, Richard Jenkins and Max von Sydow.
The book and the film went both went on to reach millions with its lessons of the power of forgiveness, the sacrifices of love, the importance of free press and the heinous results of bigotry.
Now, finally, the story is coming home again in a theatrical production version by Bainbridge Performing Arts, which opens Friday, March 13.
The story is part bittersweet romance and part courtroom drama, with healthy bits of murder mystery and battlefield action thrown in as well. It is also a social history torn from our own past and shadowed by resentments and mistrust stemming from the forced exclusion of the island’s Japanese Americans.
Set in 1954, against the backdrop of an America still haunted by World War II, cultures and communities clash when a Japanese American islander is accused of murder in the sleepy fishing town of San Piedro. The local reporter Ishmael (played by Craig Peterson) finds himself more involved than he’d like as he finds the accused is the husband of the lost love of his youth, Hatsu (played by Ruth Yeo-Peterman).
The exclusion began on Bainbridge Island on March 30, 1942, when 227 men, women and children — two–thirds of them American citizens — were removed from their homes by U.S. soldiers and sent to relocation camps in the California desert. While their departure was mourned by many of their neighbors, not all welcomed their return home after the war. The exclusion and its aftermath continue to form a crucial part of the island’s history as well as a major plot point in this, our most famous tale.
Helming the project is Kate Carruthers, whose BPA directing credits include “The Kentucky Cycle,” “Distracted,” “Private Eyes,” “Arcadia,” “The Grapes of Wrath” and “The Philadelphia Story,” among others.
Carruthers said that directing the quintessential Bainbridge Island story earned the special attention of the cast and crew to ensure it got its due respect on the BPA stage.
“The pressure I feel is not because of the hype, it’s because the story is part of our community,” she said. “The thing that weighs on me is I want to make sure we tell the story true out of respect for the people who lived it.
“It’s our history,” she added. “It’s part of who we are and so I can’t think of a more significant play that we could be doing here.”
The community is clearly excited for the production, Carruthers added, and she noted that conversation and anticipation abound and she’s “been hearing it all over the island.”
The story itself resonates deeply both here and abroad, she explained, because it deals with universal themes through very specific events.
“It’s about who we are, it’s how we got this way, where we come from. And it’s [also] about what’s going on today in the world,” Carruthers said.
Though she was admittedly not as impressed with the film adaptation, Carruthers said she did look to the motion picture for aesthetic inspiration such as costumes and scenery.
“I don’t think it’s as good as the novel,” she explained. “I think it was a little too dark and heavy. It is a serious story, but I think that they emphasized that sort of heavy, dark theme, and I think that by being so ponderous they missed some of the human aspects of the story.”
One thing that does hold true for both the film and BPA’s production is that both benefit greatly from the presence of actual physical history, and the generous participation of actual internment survivors.
The ready presence of so much history, according to both Carruthers and Peterson, the show’s leading man, really made the difference for the cast.
“You can feel the energy of the story sort of at everyone’s fingertips,” Peterson said. “In the beginning when we went to the [historical] museum, right next door, to hear some of the ladies that came in that knew some of the people that some of the characters are based on — and see how emotional they got — that really resonated right away.”
“It’s exciting,” he added of this, his BPA debut show. “I’ve never been a part of something quite this special.”
The feeling of distinction surrounding the production has spread to many partner organizations who, though not involved with the actual play, have been volunteering their services to everything from promotion and advertising to historical materials and research assistance, according to BPA operations officer Shannon Dowling.
“All of these people have said, ‘Hey, can you send me your stuff so I can put it in my newsletter?’” she explained. “So, it appears that we’ve done this humungous advertising campaign, but actually it was people reaching out to us saying, ‘I’d like to tell our people about your show.’”
Even the BPA gallery exhibition will coincide with the show and display many of the famed Ansel Adams portraits from Manzanar, as well historical articles and objects from the film.
“We’ll have some artifacts from the movie and we’ll have them as part of the [historical] museum’s lobby display,” Dowling said.
Also benefitting the show’s cast — in addition to the the island’s intimacy with the story and history and widespread community support — Caruthers said, has been the chance to interact with and question the author himself.
“It was 10 years in the writing,” she said of the novel. “He wrote the story to find a story that would resonate with youth. He really believed that the story is for young people, and it is in the sense that we need to tell these stories and keep telling them to future generations so that we will not repeat the mistakes that we made.”
The show will run from Friday, March 13 through Sunday, March 29 with shows at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, as well as 3 p.m. Sundays.
Tickets ($27 for adults, $22 for seniors, and $19 for students, youth, military and teachers) are on sale and may be purchased online at www.bainbridgeperformingarts.org, by phone at 206-842-8569 or in person at BPA.
Visit www.bainbridgeperformingarts.org to learn more.
Back on Bainbridge
What: “Snow Falling On Cedars” hits the island stage.
When: Friday, March 13 through Sunday, March 29 with shows at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, as well as 3 p.m. Sundays.
Where: Bainbridge Performing Arts (200 Madison Ave. North).
Admission: Tickets ($27 for adults, $22 for seniors, and $19 for students, youth, military and teachers) may be purchased online at www.bainbridgeperformingarts.org, by phone at 206-842-8569 or in person at BPA.
