What I liked
I loved this show so much. I had to (literally) run down the street to catch my next one, but it didn’t even feel like a full 70 minutes had gone by when the final bow was taken. Excellent pacing, engaging performances, and writing that reaches deep into your soul to transcend time and space.
Running slightly longer than most Fringe shows, Paper Flowers makes excellent use of this extended runtime. The pauses and silence are powerful, and the show plays with tension very well. (The entire audience erupting in applause when a certain someone was booted from the boarding house was great!) I love the characterization of Nanami and how she grows in subtle yet powerful ways through the story until the big moment at the very end.
The entire cast was excellent, but I particularly want to spotlight Miley Yamamoto, Hiro Matsunaga, and Staci Ashley. Their performances were mesmerizing.
What I didn't like
When Japanese was being spoken on the 1970s set, English subtitles appeared above the 1940s set. I had to pull my eyes away from an incredible performance to understand what was being said. It was also a little jarring for the school set to share a space with the internment camp. I wonder if there’s a way to capture the beats from the school set on the boarding house set.
My overall impression
An absolutely beautiful, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting story that makes incredible use of two stages to tell a timely story of the ways past injustices seep into current struggles.
