Review: HOLD THESE TRUTHS - An Exquisite Master Class in Story-Telling

HOLD THESE TRUTHS/by Jeanna Sakata/directed by Jessica Kubzansky/The Pasadena Playhouse/thru June 25, 2017

The expert artistry of words, direction, acting and tech marvelously converge into the current Pasadena Playhouse production of HOLD THESE TRUTHS. Ryun Yu, alone on stage, stunningly and authentically pulls off Jeanne Sakata's detailed depiction of American-born Japanese Gordon Hirabayashi's real-life incidents of standing up against the Executive Order 9066 of being sent to an internment camp in wartime 1942.

Director Jessica Kubzansky has smartly staged Yu making full use of the large stage area - running to play catch (and throw) with his friend, racing across campus to make curfew, hitching a ride to an Arizona prison, moving rocks in the prison rockpile. With Kubzansky's very specific directions highlighting very minute detailing of Sakata's expressive and informative script, Yu fluidly transforms from Gordon Hirabayashi into his family, his friends, the courtroom personnel, and many others. When Yu reacts with Esther, one of the first students he meets on campus, the obvious flirtatious attraction becomes quite evident between Hirabayashi (Yu) and Esther (also Yu). When Hirabayashi's mother unsuccessfully begs him not to resist going to the internment camp, you can actually see her crumpling on the ground before Yu. Heart-breaking! Hirabayashi being almost hugged by his father after months of separation- priceless in its awkwardness from one unaccustomed to displaying physical affection - and it's all through Yu's boy language! Amazing!

With the simplistic use of wooden chairs on a bare wooden platform stage and a solid color-lit cyclorama (credited to designer Ben Zamora), and a couple of clip-on ties taken on and off (costumer Soojin Lee); the focus remains on Yu as Hirabayashi and his cast of characters as it should be.

As a most satisfying coda to this play; in 2012, Gordon Hirabayashi's widow, his second wife Susan Carnahan, accepted his posthumously awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom.

HOLD THESE TRUTHS - What a wonderful way to learn an overlooked history lesson! For more insight to Jeanne Sakata's thought processes in creating HOLD THESE TRUTHS, check out my interview with Jeanne here.

www.pasadenaplayhouse.org

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