FAR EAST

Directed by Daniel Sullivan
Written by A.R. Gurney
Starring: Lisa Emery, Michael Hayden, Bill Smitrovich
PBS/Stage on Screen

Lieutenant Watts (Hayden) arrives at an American Naval base in Yokosuka Japan in the wake of the Korean War and gets seriously involved with a beautiful Japanese girl. His Commanding Officer Captain Anderson (Smitrovich) is a grounded flier who is mourning the death of his son. The Captain’s young, independent-minded wife Julia (Emery) places herself between Sparky’s romance with the Japanese girl and the WASP value system he is trying to escape. With clever echoes of Madam Butterfly and From Here to Eternity, Gurney’s play poignantly examines America’s re-discovery of itself during the Cold War.