SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns can learn more about local history through the latest Plan B Theatre production, Kilo Wat. The play recounts the story of a Japanese American man born and raised in Ogden who was drafted twice in the 1940s, once by the army and then by the NBA.
”There are aspects of the story that are going to appeal to you and that are going to feel universal whether you’re a sports person, a theater person or none of the above…this is a human story," stated Aaron Asano Swenson, the screenwriter for the project.
Wat “Kilo Wat” Misaka actually has his jersey hanging in the Huntsman Center. Just 5’7”, he helped Utah Men’s Basketball win an NCAA championship and an NIT crown in the 1940s. But that scratches the surface of his extraordinary life.
At a time when Japanese Americans on the West Coast were sent to internment camps, including camps in Utah, Wat was able to study and play basketball at the University of Utah helping them win NCAA and NIT titles in 1944 and ‘47.
After the war was over, Wat was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to interview survivors of the atomic blast in Hiroshima.
Playwright Aaron Asano Swenson says he’s proud to try to bring this story to life: “There’s a lot of story to tell, but not as many people still around to tell it.”
Following his time in college and military service, Wat Misaka was then drafted by the New York Knicks, becoming the first person of color to play in what became the NBA.
Fourth-generation Japanese American and Utahn Brian Kido is helping tell that story. Kido is a University of Utah alum, a Plan B veteran actor, and deeply respectful of his Japanese American heritage. “And I thought to myself; ‘I guess I have to do this…It’s just something I have to do for that generation and for him.”
Jerry Rapier, Plan B Theatre's Artistic Director, says Wat's story is a part of our history that's often overlooked. "He was barrier-breaking in basketball the same year that Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in professional baseball.”
Wat Misaka's extraordinary life is being presented at the University of Utah's Kingsbury Hall theater, with performances this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. You can find more information and get tickets here.
