The Gerald W. Lynch Theater Presents FIRST THROWS PLAY READING SERIES

The Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College presents the first staged reading in the First Throws Play Reading Series, Jeanne Sakata's Dawn's Light: The Journey of Gordon Hirabayashi, directed by Lisa Rothe and featuring Joel de la Fuente, on Monday, February 22, 2010 at 7pm at theGerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, 899 Tenth Avenue, NYC. Admission is FREE and reservations are requested at dawnslightppc@aol.com.

First Throws is John Jay's first playwright salon, presenting new theatrical works and readings in a casual setting. First Throws presents new works that examine issues of justice with an artistic perspective.

Dawn's Light: The Journey of Gordon Hirabayashi, a solo play by Jeanne Sakata, was inspired by a true story. During World War II in Seattle, University of Washington student Gordon Hirabayashi agonizes over U.S. government orders to forcibly remove and mass incarcerate all people of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast. As he fights to reconcile his country's betrayal with his passionate belief in the U.S. Constitution, Gordon journeys toward a greater understanding of America's triumphs --- and a confrontation with its failures.

Jeanne Sakata makes her playwriting debut with Dawn's Light: The Journey of Gordon Hirabayashi, which received its world premiere in November 2007 at East West Players, co-presented by the UCLA Department of Asian American Studies, the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, and the Japanese American National Museum. Dawn's Light was recently workshopped at the New York Theatre Workshop's August 2009 Dartmouth Residency, and was chosen by the Epic Theatre Ensemble and the Lark Play Development Center for their first collaborative public reading. Dawn's Light was the also inspiration and theatrical centerpiece for the 2009 civil rights symposium on the Hirabayashi case at the University of Tennessee, Civil Liberties, National Security and the Legacies of the Japanese Removal and Incarceration. Jeanne just participated in the Lark's 2010 Winter Writers' Retreat, developing her new play At Thirteen, and is also an award-winning actress of stage and screen who has been honored with the LA Ovation Award for Best Lead Actress for her acclaimed portrayal of Master Hua in Chay Yew's Red at East West Players.

Lisa Rothe recently became the Director of Off-Site Programs and Partnerships at the Lark Play Development Center. She is passionate about new work and has workshopped, developed and directed many new plays. Recent credits include: Interpreting William by James Still (Indiana Repertory); Looking for the Pony by Andrea Lepcio (Synchronicity Performance Group @ Seven Stages in Atlanta); Penelope by Ellen McLaughlin and composer Sarah Kirkland Snider (Getty Villa, Gallatin School in NYC, Princeton University); Couldn't Say by Christopher Wall (MITF - Best Director Award) as well as productions for NYMF and SPF. She also received an EST/Sloan Foundation grant with composer Kim Sherman and librettist Margaret Vandenburg for work on Ada, a new opera. Guest Director: NYU Graduate Acting, the Juilliard School and Yale School of Drama. Alum of the Women's Project Director's Lab as well as a Drama League alum & Fox Fellow. MFA: NYU Graduate Acting.

Most recently, Joel de la Fuente has appeared onstage in Chiori Miyagawa's I Have Been to Hiroshima, Mon Amour directed by Jean Wagner (Ohio Theatre) and as Ariel in The Tempest (Shakespeare Theatre of NJ). On film and television, he has recently concluded working on the feature film "The Adjustment Bureau" starring Matt Damon, as well as appearing in his ninth season on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." Selected New York theatrical credits include: Ivanov in Ivanov (Mint Theater/NAATCO, Jonathan Bank, dir.); The Downtown Plays (Tribeca Theater Festival, John Rando, dir.); Claudio in Beatrice and Benedict with the New York Philharmonic (conducted by Sir Colin Davis); Fuenteovejuna (David Herskovitz, dir.); Vershinin in The Three Sisters (Mud/Bone Theatre Collective); The Square (Lisa Petersen, dir.); America Dreaming (Michael Mayer, dir.); Valentine in The Two Gentlemen of Verona (NYSF, Adrian Hall, dir.). Joel is an alumnus oF Brown University and the Graduate Acting Program at N.Y.U.

Since opening its doors in 1988, the Gerald W. Lynch Theater has been an invaluable cultural resource for John Jay College and the larger New York City community. Under the new direction of Executive Director Shannon R. Mayers, the Theater is dedicated to the creation and presentation of performing arts programming of all disciplines with a special focus on how the artistic imagination can shed light on the many perceptions of justice in our society. The Theater has hosted prestigious events for Lincoln Center Festival, Great Performances, Julliard, Alvin Ailey and numerous television specials for HBO and Comedy Central.

About John Jay College of Criminal Justice: An international leader in educating for justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City University of New York offers a rich liberal arts and professional studies curriculum to upwards of 14,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 135 nations. In teaching, scholarship and research, the College approaches justice as an applied art and science in service to society and as an ongoing conversation about fundamental human desires for fairness, equality and the rule of law. For more information, visit www.jjay.cuny.edu.

For more information, visit www.jjay.cuny.edu/theater.php.

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