1 Hour Photo Virtual Tour
1 Hour Photo is going on tour from April 2021 – June 2021
A moving portrait of one man’s quest to find beauty in the depths of a savage century.
Tour Dates
April 8 – 18, 2021 | Persephone Theatre, Saskatoon, SK
April 23 & 24, 2021 | Surrey Civic Theatres, Surrey, BC
May 5 – 9, 2021 | Prairie Theatre Exchange, Winnipeg, MB
May 14 – 15 , 2021 | Artistic Fraud, St John’s, NL
May 28 – 30, 2021 | The Cultch, Vancouver, BC
June 12 – 20, 2021 | East West Players, Los Angeles
Oct 22-24, 2021 | TheatreOne, Nanaimo
Oct 26-30, 2021 | Evergreen Cultural Centre, Coquitlam
Virtual Tour of 1 Hour Photo by Tetsuro Shigematsu
Navigating this new world of social distancing spawned the innovative solution to bring vAct’s award-winning production 1 Hour Photo across Canada. vAct has collaborated with a Vancouver based film production company, Brightlight Pictures, to produce a high quality, 75 minute cinematic adaptation of 1 Hour Photo by Tetsuro Shigematsu. Presented by theatre companies across Canada, the 1 Hour Photo Virtual Tour will engage with audiences through scheduled showings accompanied by a live talkback with Tetsuro Shigematsu.
About the Show
Written and performed by Tetsuro Shigematsu, 1 Hour Photo is the story of Mas Yamamoto, a man whose life was swept up by the major currents of the 20th century. From growing up in a fishing village on the banks of the Fraser River, to being confined at a Japanese Canadian internment camp during World War II, to helping build the Distant Early Warning Line in the Canadian Arctic during the height of the Cold War, 1 Hour Photo is a moving portrait saturated with the most vivid colours of our times.
Writer/Performer/Filmmaker: *Tetsuro Shigematsu
Artistic Producer: Donna Yamamoto
Director: *Richard Wolfe
Dramaturg: Heidi Taylor
Set Design: Pam Johnson
Lighting Design: Gerald King
Costume Design: Laura Fukumoto
Costume Design Mentor: Barbara Clayden
Sound Design/Composer: Steve Charles
Audio Dramaturg: Yvonne Gall
Video Design: Jamie Nesbitt
Technical Director/Production Manager: Adrian Muir
Stage Manager/Model & Miniature Design: *Susan Miyagishima
Apprentice Stage Manager: Maria Zarrillo
Apprentice Lighting Design: Harika Xu
*vAct is a member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (PACT), and engages under the terms of the Canadian Theatre Agreement, professional artists who are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association.
With the generous support of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association
Director: Aaron Au
Director of Photography: Alfonso Chin
Editor: Dylan Murray
Sound Mixer: Mark Barry
Camera Operator A: Dean Webber
Camera Operator B: Alfonso Chin
Camera First Camera Assistant A: Sammy Su
Camera First Camera Assistant B: Thomas Wang
Camera Second Camera Assistant A: Mengxue Xia
Camera Second Camera Assistant B: Eva Brownstein
Lighting Crew: Tim Laks
Lighting Crew: Agustin Little
Key Grip: Trevor Pedersen
Post Sound: Kirby Jinnah
Colorist: Allan Pinvidic
Press Coverage
“Wrestling with questions of life and death, 1 Hour Photo is most heartfelt in its exploration of Yamamoto’s life. Ultimately, we are all a little better off for his willingness to share it through Shigematsu” — Mark Robins, Vancouver Presents
“1 Hour Photo animates an extraordinary life with vivid props and projections…the play is a buffet of sensory textures” — Kathleen Oliver, The Georgia Straight
After the success of Empire of the Son, The Cultch was thrilled to welcome VACT back for the premiere of 1 Hour Photo. “The company has a strong vision that permeates throughout the play and a very poetic way of telling stories that is also quite straightforward that I love. There’s also an authenticity to the stories. I think that Tetsuro is an incredibly empathetic performer, artist, and writer. Working with everyone in that company, you have this tremendous sense of their ability to empathize with the lives of multiple generations.” — Heather Redfern, The Cultch’s executive director, as quoted in The Westender.
“Tetsuro Shigematsu is one of the city’s best artists, and his new play might be his most ambitious yet” – Andrea Warner, Georgia Straight
“Superbly written and performed, 1 Hour Photo is a universal story” — John Jane, Review Vancouver
“The entire show was a sensory delight and wonder—visually, musically, and emotionally”— Yukari Peerless, yukaripeerless.ca
“I heard people crying …. delivered such an emotional punch” — Marsha Lederman, The Globe and Mail
