"A Personal Matter" Screening with "Hold These Truths" playwright Jeanne Sakata
Sun, Oct 2 | 4 pm | FREE!
Actor and playwright Jeanne Sakata will share her experiences in researching and writing her solo play Hold These Truths, inspired by the World War II experiences of Gordon Hirabayashi, a Japanese American college student who openly defied and legally challenged government orders to mass incarcerate all people of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast.
Sakata will speak about what inspired her to write the play, the research and interviews she used as her primary source material, the challenges in writing the play and getting it produced, and its developmental progress since its world premiere in 2007 at the East West Players in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo neighborhood. She will also screen the documentary film, A Personal Matter: Gordon Hirabayashi vs. The United States, from which she first learned of Gordon Hirabayashi's story.
More about Hold These Truths:
Resource Guide for Educators: Photographs in History
Educators Resource Guide: Photographs in History
Resource Guide For Educators: Further Resources
Educators: Further Resources on the History of the Play
Resource Guide for Educators-Timeline of the Japanese American Story in WWII
Educator Resource- Timeline following the Japanese American Story
Reviews of "Hold These Truths"
"Hold These Truths is what theater should be: instructive, entertaining, thought-provoking, eye-opening."
"Hold These Truths": A Message from the Playwright
"Gordon's story is a vitally important American one ... his tenacious quest for freedom echoes those of all who hunger and fight for justice ..."
"Hold These Truths" Cast and Creative Team
Hold These Truths features some of the artists who collaborated on the world premiere production of this powerful play.
The New York Times Remembers Gordon Hirabayashi
“Surprisingly, even though I lost, I did not abandon my beliefs and my values,” he said. “It is an American case, with principles that affect the fundamental human rights of all Americans.”
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