Posted by Greg Nanni on Thursday, December 4, 2014 · Leave a Comment
Check out these SPECIAL EVENTS planned in January and February, including film screenings, historical archives uncovered, internment survivor first person recountings, and more!
Hold These Truths tells a story, buried by history, of one American’s attempt to reconcile his love for a country that labeled him a second class citizen. Gordon Hirabayashi’s real-life 50-year journey brings us the astonishing facts of Japanese Internment, the US government’s orders to forcibly remove and mass incarcerate all people of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast, through the eyes of a Quaker college student who was simply looking for love and the American Dream. When confronted with the ultimate challenge to his freedom, Gordon embarks on a truly profound and brave defense of our Constitution, taking him on a wild adventure of discovering his Quaker faith, hitchhiking to prison, and ultimately, challenging the law in the highest court in the land… twice. Philadelphia actor Makoto Hirano gives voice to over thirty characters in this one-man tour-de-force regional premiere, which celebrates the triumph of the power one person has to change a nation.
Hold These Truths, written by Los Angeles based playwright Jeanne Sakata and directed by former Plays & Players Producing Artistic Director Daniel Student (The Disappearing Quarterback, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone), celebrates the triumph of the power one person has to change a nation. The production will be set designed by Colin McIlvaine (MFA, Set Design, Temple University), light designed by 2014 Barrymore nominee Andrew Cowles, costume designed by Rachel Coon (MFA, Set Design, Temple University), and sound designed by Lucas Fendlay (BFA, Art Institute of Philadelphia.) In 2007, Hold These Truths had its critically acclaimed world premiere in 2007 at East West Players, co-presented by the Japanese American National Museum, UCLA Department of Asian American Studies, and the UCLA Asian American Studies Center. In its New York premiere with the Epic Theatre Ensemble in October 2012, featuring Joel de la Fuente and directed by Lisa Rothe, Hold These Truths opened to unanimous rave reviews from The New Yorker, The Washington Post/API, and many other critics, garnering a 2013 Drama Desk Award Nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance.
The Philadelphia premiere of Hold These Truths is Barrymore eligible and runs 90 minutes long.
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CLICK HERE to read more about Hold These Truths!