San Francisco Playhouse Announces Act III of 2020/21 Season Featuring In-Person Performances

San Francisco Playhouse announced its return to in-person performances with fully staged productions of Hold These Truths by Jeanne Sakata, The Song of Summer by Lauren Yee, and Starting Here, Starting Now by Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire. All three productions will also be available as on-demand video streams for audiences to enjoy at home.

"After fourteen months of broadcasting theatre into our patrons' homes, we are filled with joy and excitement to be reopening the doors to our Empathy Gym," said Bill English, Artistic Director.

San Francisco Playhouse is following strict health and safety protocols to minimize risks to patrons, actors, and staff. At performances of Hold These Truths, audience members will be required to wear masks at all times and asked to show proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 or a negative COVID-19 test in order to attend. The company has developed seating charts that will enforce a two-empty-seat gap in between each party, as well as vacant rows in front of and behind each audience member.

In-person tickets ($30-$100) will be available for purchase starting May 11, 2021, along with on-demand video tickets ($15 - $100) that are valid throughout each show's run.

2020/21 SEASON, ACT III

Hold These Truths

By Jeanne Sakata
Directed by Jeffrey Lo
Starring Jomar Tagatac
Previews begin June 8, 2021
Press Opening June 12 at 8:00 P.M.
In-person performances June 8 - July 3, 2021
Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:00 P.M; Fridays at 8:00 P.M; Saturdays at 3:00 and 8:00 P.M.
On-demand video production available to view throughout the run

Hold These Truths is based on the incredible true story of one of America's unsung heroes. In February 1942, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, authorizing the relocation and incarceration of tens of thousands of innocent American citizens of Japanese ancestry. Among these citizens was Gordon Hirabayashi, whose defiance of the internment order catapulted him into a 50-year journey of conscience to protect the Constitution from a country that viewed him as the enemy. Hold These Truths was inspired by many hours of interviews conducted by playwright Jeanne Sakata with Mr. Hirabayashi as well as numerous primary sources from his life. This one-man show will feature Bay Area favorite Jomar Tagatac as Gordon Hirabayashi.

The Song of Summer

By Lauren Yee
Directed by Bill English
Previews begin July 20, 2021
Press Opening July 24 at 8:00 P.M.
In-person performances July 20 - August 14, 2021 (performance schedule TBA)
On-demand video production available to view throughout the run

Each summer, there's a song on every playlist, radio station, and wedding dance floor; that inescapable earworm that everyone hums on the way to work-the Song of Summer. This year, that song belongs to Robbie, but his unexpected pop superstardom is far more than he can handle. When he sneaks away from a sold-out tour to return to his childhood home, Robbie must reconnect with his past and find his authentic self. The Song of Summer is a harmonious and hilarious romantic comedy about how revisiting the past can change our future.

Starting Here, Starting Now

By Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire
Directed by Susi Damilano
Previews begin August 31, 2021
Press Opening September 4 at 8:00 P.M.
In-person performances August 31 - October 2, 2021 (performance schedule TBA)
On-demand video production available to view throughout the run

Starting Here, Starting Now is a thrilling and touching musical revue using the songs of Richard Maltby, Jr., and David Shire (Big, Baby, Closer Than Ever). In only 24 songs, Starting Here, Starting Now offers a tender-tough inventory of love and the lonesome lack thereof. Made for each other, the wry lyrics of Richard Maltby, Jr., combined with David Shire's buoyant music, forge a fast-moving, ingratiating look at how love can go right, wrong or nowhere. Using songs from their various early musicals (produced or otherwise), this bold, extroverted journey takes a winsome cast of three through the maze of modern relationships with its heart firmly on its sleeve. As with all of Maltby and Shire's work, each song is an impeccably crafted story - original, engaging, bursting with character and showcasing the versatility and charisma of its performer.

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