Dorinne Kondo’s ‘Seamless’ among top selections at New Works Festival

ByUSC Dornsife News Staff September 25, 2023

Out of more than 400 submissions, Professor Dorinne Kondo’s play Seamless has been distinguished as one of just four productions to be featured at the prestigious New Works Festival. This poignant show delves into the life of a modern Japanese American woman seeking to understand the profound impact of the World War II camps on her family and subsequent generations.

Randi Tahara as mother Masako Kubota, and Caroline Jones as daughter Diane Kubota unpack memories, as the ghost of Diane’s father (played by Daniel Koh) looks on during a scene from SEAMLESS. (Photo: Courtesy of production.)

Switching from comedic to poignant in a beat, the play centers on Diane Kubota, a successful Japanese American corporate attorney, whose life is seamlessly perfect — on the surface. A play about history and memory, the afterlife of trauma, and the (im)possibility of knowing the people you love most, Seamless leaves the audience asking their own questions about themselves, their cultures and their past.

Kondo, a distinguished author, playwright, and professor of American studies and anthropology at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, has been instrumental in highlighting Asian American narratives and experiences through her work. She has written three full-length plays and, among other projects, is at work on a new one-act that explores the existential effects of COVID and anti-Asian violence.

Performances of Seamless are scheduled for:

Sept. 29 at 8 p.m.
Oct. 7 at 4 p.m.
Oct. 14 at 8 p.m.

All will be held at the Morgan Wixson Theatre, located at 2627 Pico Blvd. in Santa Monica, Calif. Tickets are available through the theater’s website.

Rafu Shimpo recently published this story and Q&A with Kondo regarding the play.