From Page to Stage: Adapting John Okada’s “No-No Boy” for Today’s Theater

October 24, 2023

John Okada, the author of the seminal Japanese American novel, ‘No-No Boy,” was born at the Merchants Hotel in Pioneer Square on September 22, 1923. We celebrate the centennial of his birth with a series of three programs. In this second program, Okada biographer Frank Abe shares his work to create a new stage adaptation of “No-No Boy” and engages in a conversation with Seattle Rep Literary Manager and Dramaturg Paul Adolphsen on the challenges adapting a novel published in 1957 for today’s theater audiences. They will be joined by actors who will read scenes from the new adaptation and discuss them with the panelists.