Louis Ozawa Changchien, Susan Hyon, Christine Toy Johnson, Angela Lin, Jake Manabat, Barret O’Brien, and David Shih are featured in the world premiere of Jen Silverman’s Crane Story, helmed by Katherine Kovner and presented by The Playwrights Realm, at the Cherry Lane Theatre, 38 Commerce Street in New York, from September 6 – October 1, 2011. Crane Story previews begin Thursday, September 6, at 8:00pm for an opening Thursday, September 15, at 8:00pm. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8:00pm with an additional performance Monday, September 12, at 8:00pm.

Inspired by the Japanese legend of the Crane Wife, Jen Silverman’s odyssey unfolds in the space between two worlds as Cassis, a Japanese American girl played by Angela Lin, embarks on a quest to save her brother’s soul from the Land of the Dead. Crane Story interweaves Japanese Bunraku-inspired puppetry, music, and folklore to weave a universal story of love, loss and life. The title of the play is derived from the ancient Japanese Myth of The Crane, a mystical creature that can live a thousand years and, to anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes, can grant a wish.

Creating the Bunraku-inspired puppets is Puppet Kitchen.

Bangkok residents were urged to flee the rising floodwaters, which have already forced the closure of Bangkok's Don Muang airport and the evacuation of flood victims who have taken refuge there.

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 Business and Heartbreak

By Marilyn Tam

“Violence is what happens when we don’t know what to do with our heartbreak… learn how to allow your heart to break open to embrace the lessons with compassion, not broken into sharp shards that hurt others as well as yourself”

-                     Parker J Palmer, author, educator, and founder of the Center for Courage & Renewal. 

Dr. Palmer directed the above quotation at leadership and democracy, but I think it applies to how you should manage your business and life too. Violence in business and life thankfully does not usually degenerate into physical force, but the above concept is instructive in how we deal with all our challenges. 

When we have a life or business challenge, do we narrow our focus to how we can get out of the immediate circumstance, or do we expand our vision and strategy to learn how we can improve the results for this and other situations?

With a challenge is looming in front of us, it is easy to fall back into a reflexive mode. We want to make the problem go away immediately, but a decision made in haste or from anger is less than ideal. The flight or fight instinct is activated and to respond aggressively or retreat without full consideration of the options, often prove to be worse than the initial situation.