Empire of the Son: A contemporary play about a Japanese Canadian family

1 Activity: Group discussion

1. Introduction (10 minutes)
   • Briefly introduce the play Empire of the Son.
   • Show the trailer of the play to provide students with a sense of what the staged production looked and sounded like.
2. Reading and discussion (15 minutes)
   • Read a selected excerpt from the play that highlights the main themes.

(see excerpt in Source 1.1: Empire of the Son – Ode to my sisters, train station)

2 Facilitate a group discussion about the excerpt

• What are the main themes presented in the excerpt? (gender roles, the performance of masculinity)
  • How do gender roles and cultural expectations influence the characters’ expressions of affection?
• How do the characters’ experiences reflect the immigrant experience according to gender?
• What literary devices can you identify in the text?

3. Group Activity: Dramatic performance (15 minutes)

• Group work. Divide students into small groups. Assign each group a short segment from the excerpt to rehearse and perform for the class.
• Performance. Allow time for each group to perform their segment. Encourage them to focus on conveying the emotions and themes discussed.

4. Creative writing and process drama (15 minutes)

• Have students write a short reflective piece from the perspective of one of the characters in the play, and focus on their emotions and experiences.
• Use process drama techniques to explore these reflections further.
  • Hot seat. Students take turns sitting in the “hot seat” as their chosen character, and answer questions from their peers.
  • Role on the wall. Create a large outline of a character on the wall and have students write inside the outline what the character feels and thinks, and outside the outline what others think about the character.

5. Integration with history and social studies (5 minutes)

• Discuss the historical context of Japanese Canadians, and include the internment during the Second World War and its impact on subsequent generations.
• Relate the themes of the play to current issues of cultural identity and immigration in Canada.

6. Conclusion and assessment (five minutes)

• Summarize the main points discussed during the lesson.
• Ask students to share one thing they learned or found interesting about the play.
• Collect the creative writing pieces for assessment.

Learning objectives

Themes. Explore themes of family relationships, cultural identity, the immigrant experience, and gender roles, e.g., the constraints of masculinities.

Historical context. Gain insight into the historical and cultural background of Japanese Canadians.

Literary devices. Identify and analyze the use of literary devices such as monologue, dialogue, verse, metaphor, flashback, and symbolism.

Integration. Connect the play’s themes to broader historical and social studies topics.

Duration

• 1 class period (60 minutes)

Resources

• Text of the play Empire of the Son is available from Talonbooks, and Amazon.
• Trailer of the play is on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmubLFn3_jM).
• Playwright and performer Tetsuro Shigematsu can be booked, depending upon availability, to perform an excerpt within the classroom throughout the Lower Mainland. Contact him at tshigematsu@gmail.com.

Activity: Group discussion

1. Introduction (10 minutes)

• Briefly introduce the play Empire of the Son.
• Show the trailer of the play to provide students with a sense of what the staged production looked and sounded like.

2. Reading and discussion (15 minutes)

• Read a selected excerpt from the play that highlights the main themes.