| Yellow Fever | |
| Characters: | Sam Shikaze |
| Setting: | Powell Street in Vancouver, CAN in the early 1970s |
| Premiere: | 1 December 1982 |
| Place: | Pan Asian Repertory New York, New York |
| Orig Lang: | English |
| Subject: | Japanese Canadian Culture |
| Genre: | Comedy, Mystery, Parody |
Yellow Fever is a play by R. A. Shiomi, which takes place on Powell Street in Japantown, Vancouver, a gathering place for the local Japanese-Canadian culture. Set in the 1970s, the Sam Spade-like main character, Sam Shikaze, must work to unravel the mysteries that surround him.[1] First produced by the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre in 1982, it received positive reviews[1] and had a successful run off-Broadway.
Sam Shikaze, a smooth private eye, narrates his own story about what happened when he was hired to find the missing Cherry Blossom Queen. He is soon trapped in a web of racism and political intrigue that seems to lead back to the Hong Kong tongs. Chuck Chan is a lawyer who tried to help solve the case, while Nancy Wing is a beautiful reporter who is searching for a story. Captain Kadota, an old friend of Sam's, offers his aid as a member of the police force, although Sam and Kadota do not see eye-to-eye on politics.
Presented by the Pan Asian Repertory Theater: