Yachiyo is someone from a previous era whose life is very contemporary in many ways. Her struggle to assert herself and find her place in the world is constrained by her time, place, class and status as an immigrant woman. It's a bittersweet story that portrays some harsh realities about life in Hawaii in the early 20th century. Highly recommended.

i love how this play tells the story of 1919 hawaii, through the playwrites family history. very beautiful and moving.

A must-read, even for those who don't normally read plays. He tells a beautiful and captivating story through an exquisitely choreographed dramatic work. My complimentary words cannot do justice to him - I will just say that, as an aspiring writer, he is someone I truly admire.

... from Gotanda's earlier, better known pieces -- forget linear narrative of any kind, this is a halucinatory dream gone trippy. Saw this in NYC years ago at Manhattan Theater Club and was mighty impressed with Gotanda's use of language, the way he plays with phrases, the way he learns to work within and outside of the language box. It's entertaining, it's thought-provoking. By curtain's fall, you have to ask if you yourself are not standing on your head, trying to somehow make sense of an upside world.

DAY STANDING ON ITS HEAD is a wild ride into the psyche of a 40-something professor asking the age-old question, IS THAT ALL THERE IS? The play is highly theatrical, and, as we staged it at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre & Asian American Theatre Company, full of quirks and surprises, including a few wacky song numbers and a whirlwind of activity. The story is both poignant and pertinent, centering on the universal quest for meaning in this transient existence. I recommend it highly to anyone looking for an engaging, truly theatrical work to direct, to perform in, or to peruse with pleasure.

The Wash is one of my all-time favorite plays. It has a little bit of everything -- family saga, generational differences, cultural divide, comedy, drama and even some tragedy. With a whole lot of hope thrown in. Regardless of your ethnic background, this is one family story you can definitely relate to. It's a quick read, but it will stay with you a very long time.

Looking for a coming of age story about people over fifty? Then, by all means, do read "The Wash." Of all of Philip Gotanda's works, it is my personal favorite. This contemporary yet timeless story is about a woman of a "certain age" compelled to choose how she wants to live the rest of her life -- and with whom: her demanding husband of many years or a widower who shares her love of art. Considering cultural values emphasizing loyalty and sacrifice as well as the pressures from her own family, the heroine is remarkably able to resolve the dilemma between doing what has always been expected of her and with doing what is true for her. A theme Mr. Gotanda explores in a number of his works (see also "Yankee Dawg You Die").

I also highly recommend the film of the same name, "The Wash." You will be surprised by the outcome and moved by the extraordinary actors who poignantly realize the emotional depth of characters from everyday life.

Yankee Dawg, unfortunately, is timeless. Because although it was written over a decade ago, it is just as relevant today. Ethnic actors must make a very difficult choice, every time they take a part -- whether to take a stereotypical, demeaning role to pay the rent, to fill a belly, or to hold out for more artistic integrity and relevance. Given that choice, what would you do? What would each of us do? Read the script, if you can't get to a production. Or better yet, get your local theater company to put it up. Every person, no matter who you are, NEEDS to see this show!

If you enjoy this type of writing, you will enjoy this book. Fish head soup is real.

Barring that, get this book. While all four of the plays, Fish Head Soup, Yankee Dawg You Die, The Wash and A Song for a Nisei Fisherman, are strong, stirring, beautiful pieces, perhaps the most powerful of these is Yankee Dawg You Die. Although written over a decade ago, Yankee Dawg is absolutely timeless: the ethnic actor's eternal struggle of taking a demeaning, stereotypical role because it pays the rent versus refusing such a part for the sake of artistic integrity is a challenge all ethnic actors still face. ... Read Yankee Dawg -- better yet, go see it any chance you get (!) ... and pray that its premise does not remain relevant in the decades to come.

No question, this is a must read. Most people will never see a full production of these scripts. Live theater featuring new work by living playwrights is rare in most places.

For those interested in truth and in drama, the full range of the American experience and the Asian Pacific Islander American perspective, from a sansei point of view, Fish Head Soup and Other Plays is the definitive published collection of Philip Kan Gotanda's work to date. Better yet, read the text *and* see the productions. If you can.

Gotanda tells stories that describe and illuminate the truth about what it means and what it's like to be Japanese American, but cultural heredity is not a prerequisite or barrier to the book. His work challenges the "truth" of other recent writers who blur the line on what really carried over to the US of A when folks from around the Pacific Rim came to stay.

The drama and humor are universal and poignant, un-stereotypical in the sense that the conflicts and human interest come out of relationships and dreams, not exoticized romanticism. The dramatic lines are not always gentle, and some are shocking. The humor is grounded in what makes "other" interesting and "family" familiar.

It's a window on what's happening in Asian Pacific Islander America today.