INNOCENT WHEN YOU DREAM

In this penetrating audio adaptation of Ken Narasaki's 2008 play, an 80-year-old WWII veteran suffers a stroke and lies in bed unable to speak. Showcasing a fine cast of Japanese American voice actors, the story shifts seamlessly from the man's memories of the battlefield to a desolate, wind-beaten internment camp where, years earlier, two teens, portrayed by John Miyasaki and Rosie Narasaki, meet and fall in love. A pivotal scene at a dive bar features the vulnerable tone of Kurt Kanazawa. The persistent beeps of a hospital monitor bring the listener back to the present, in which a son and daughter, portrayed by Greg Watanabe and Suzy Nakamura, can only wonder at their dying father's long-held secret. B.P. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2024]