Jeanne Sakata News

Performances of Hang A Tale Theater Company's special engagement of Jeanne Sakata's Hold These Truths, a solo play inspired by the life of Gordon Hirabayashi, directed by Lisa Rothe (Science Fair: An Opera with Experiments at HERE), at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker Street at the corner of Elizabeth Street) have been delayed due to star Joel de la Fuente's shooting schedule for Amazon's The Man in the High Castle.

Janice Sinden, President & CEO of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA), announced today that Chris Coleman has been named the fourth Artistic Director of its DCPA Theatre Company following a national search. Coleman will join the company in May 2018.

Hang A Tale Theater Company will present a special engagement of Jeanne Sakata's Hold These Truths, a solo play inspired by the life of Gordon Hirabayashi, directed by Lisa Rothe (Science Fair: An Opera with Experiments at HERE), at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker Street at the corner of Elizabeth Street), December 3-20.

Arena Stage's 2017/18 Season Preview event took place following the all-day, free Community Day and Costume Sale on August 26, 2916. The evening included performances from and conversations with artists involved in the 2017/18 season. BroadwayWorld has photos from the star-studded event below!

The forced relocation of Japanese-Americans into internment camps through executive action by the President during World War II remains one of the most flagrant violations of civil liberties in American history. New Century Theatre just opened HOLD THESE TRUTHS by Jeanne Sakata, the acclaimed one-man show that tells the miraculous story of Gordon Hirabayashi, one of a handful of Japanese Americans who resisted the order to relocate and was sent to jail. His case ultimately landed in the supreme court.

Victory Gardens Theater, in collaboration with Alphawood Gallery, presents the reading series Resisting Injustice: Two Play Readings about the Incarceration of Japanese Americans in World War II, featuring Question 27, Question 28 and Hold These Truths as part of Alphawood Gallery's first original exhibition Then They Came for Me: Incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII and the Demise of Civil Liberties.

The forced relocation of Japanese-Americans into internment camps through executive action by the President during World War II remains one of the most flagrant violations of civil liberties in American history. New Century Theatre just opened HOLD THESE TRUTHS by Jeanne Sakata, the acclaimed one-man show that tells the miraculous story of Gordon Hirabayashi, one of a handful of Japanese Americans who resisted the order to relocate and was sent to jail. His case ultimately landed in the supreme court.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces select cast members for upcoming productions as part of the company's 2017/18 programming as single tickets for the full season go on sale.

Victory Gardens Theater, in collaboration with Alphawood Gallery, presents the reading series Resisting Injustice: Two Play Readings about the Incarceration of Japanese Americans in World War II, featuring Question 27, Question 28 and Hold These Truths as part of Alphawood Gallery's first original exhibition Then They Came for Me: Incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII and the Demise of Civil Liberties.

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.

Roundup: Check Out The Top Stories From Los Angeles You Might Have Missed 5/26 - Vote in the BWW Awards!

Ten years ago, actress/playwright Jeanne Sakata began writing down her various thoughts on her personal connections with the subject matter of her DAWN'S LIGHT: THE JOURNEY OF GORDON HIRABAYASHI. Through various reincarnations over the last decade, and a title change to HOLD THESE TRUTHS; Jeanne will be opening at The Pasadena Playhouse. I was most excited to get Jeanne's insight on this dark and deplorable episode of American history.

Pasadena Playhouse (Danny Feldman, Producing Artistic Director and Sheldon Epps, Artistic Director Emeritus) rounds up its 2016-2017 Season with three summer programs including HOLD THESE TRUTHS, a critically acclaimed play about the unsung American hero Gordon Hirabayashi, from May 30 - June 25, 2017; SHOUT SISTER SHOUT! The Gospel of Rock.

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston announces the final two plays to complete the 2017-18 Season, Spiro Veloudos' 20th Season as Producing Artistic Director.

East West Players (EWP), the nation's longest-running professional theatre of color in the country and the largest producing organization of Asian American artistic work, is pleased to announce the launch of its inaugural playwrights group, providing space and artistic support over the course of a year for six writers. The 2017 program is directed by playwright Alice Tuan and composed of all-female playwrights, as part of EWP's 51st Anniversary Season, Radiant, that focuses on featuring stories by and about women.

The Playwrights' Center today announced that Robert Chelimsky will join the organization as managing director, effective May 1, 2017. Chelimsky most recently served as managing director of Epic Theatre Ensemble in New York.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley continues its 2016/2017 season with the Regional Premiere of Velina Hasu Houston's international comic drama, Calligraphy. Two continents, two cultures, two estranged sisters, and two cousins determined to bridge the gap between them, are all boldly calligraphed in this free-wheeling work set in Los Angeles and Tokyo, past and present. East and West collide as Japanese free-spirit Sayuri and biracial American Hiromi care for their feuding mothers, whom they gamely hope to reunite before it is too late.Directed by TheatreWorks Associate Artistic Director Leslie Martinson, Calligraphy will be presented by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley March 8-April 2 at Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. For tickets ($31-$86) and more information the public may visit TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley continues its 2016/2017 season with the Regional Premiere of Velina Hasu Houston's international comic drama, Calligraphy. Two continents, two cultures, two estranged sisters, and two cousins determined to bridge the gap between them, are all boldly calligraphed in this free-wheeling work set in Los Angeles and Tokyo, past and present.  East and West collide as Japanese free-spirit Sayuri and biracial American Hiromi care for their feuding mothers, whom they gamely hope to reunite before it is too late. Directed by TheatreWorks Associate Artistic Director Leslie Martinson, Calligraphy will be presented by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley March 8-April 2 at Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. For tickets ($35-$59) and more information the public may visit TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith and Executive Director Edgar Dobie announce the 2017/18 season lineup for the company's 68th season. The season reflects Arena Stage's commitment to championing diverse voices and producing work that is politically and socially-relevant.

The Pasadena Playhouse (Danny Feldman, Producing Artistic Director and Sheldon Epps, Artistic Director Emeritus) announced today that they will present THE ORIGINALIST and HOLD THESE TRUTHS as part of the theater's 2016-2017 Season. THE ORIGINALIST, by John Strand (Charles MacArthur Award-winning Lovers and Executioners), directed by Molly Smith (Camp David and Artistic Director of Arena Stage), and starring four-time Helen Hayes Award-winner Edward Gero (Goodman Theatre's Red), tells the story about a liberal law student's nerve-wracking clerkship with Justice Antonin Scalia.