Photo Flash: Inside Opening Night Of HOLD THESE TRUTHS At The Sheen Center

Joel de la Fuente (Amazon's "The Man in the High Castle," "Hemlock Grove") made a triumphant return to the New York stage in his Drama Desk nominated role as Gordon Hirabayashi and 30 other characters in Jeanne Sakata's Hold These Truths, which opened on December 7 and is currently playing a limited run through December 20 at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker Street at the corner of Elizabeth Street). Check out opening night photos below!

Following the matinee performances of Hold These Truths on Saturday, December 9 and Sunday, December 10, Hang a Tale Theater Company will welcome a diverse panel of guests to discuss the history of forced Japanese internment during WWII and the parallels to our current time, when Muslims and other minorities are again fighting to preserve their civil liberties. Start time is approximately 3:30pm, and each discussion will last approximately 45-60 minutes. In order to attend the talkback events you must have purchased tickets to the matinee performance, immediately preceding the event.

Panelists for Saturday, 12/9 :
Jeanne Sakata (Actor of film, television and theater and writer of Hold These Truths), will be joined by Julie Azuma (President, Different Roads to Learning), Albert Fox Cahn (Legal Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations), and George Hirose (Co-President, JACL-NY).

Panelists for Sunday, 12/10:
Jeanne Sakata will be joined by David Okada (Co-President, JACL-NY) Allison Hiroto (NY Day of Remembrance Committee), and Hussein Rashid, PhD (academic, speaker educator, and founder of Islamicate L3C).

Remaining performances are scheduled for Saturday, 12/9 at 2pm & 7:30pm; Sunday, 12/10 at 2pm & 7:30pm; Monday, 12/11 at 7:30pm; Friday, 12/15 at 7:30pm, Saturday, 12/16 at 2pm & 7:30pm; Sunday, 12/17 at 2pm & 7:30pm; 12/18 at 7:30pm, Tuesday, 12/19 at 7:30pm; Wednesday, 12/20 at 7:30pm. Tickets (20 seats at $29; 50 seats at $49; 10 seats at $59) are available for advance purchase at sheencenter.org/shows/holdthesetruths or by calling (212) 925-2812.

During WWII in Seattle, University of Washington student Gordon Hirabayashi fights the US government's orders to forcibly remove and mass incarcerate all people of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast. As he struggles to reconcile his country's betrayal with his passionate belief in the US Constitution, Gordon begins a 50-year journey toward a greater understanding of America's triumphs---and a confrontation with its failures.

Hold These Truths is inspired by this true story from a little-known chapter of American history, when civil liberties were under attack, constitutional rights violated, and issues of race hotly debated by a divided country. Joel de la Fuente (Inspector Kido on Amazon's "The Man in the High Castle") stars as civil rights pioneer and 2012 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, Gordon Hirabayashi.

Hold These Truths originally received its New York Premiere with Epic Theatre Ensemble in 2012 and Joel de la Fuente was nominated for the 2013 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance.

Photo Credit: Lia Chang

Joel de la Fuente at his opening night curtain call.

Joel de la Fuente, Uzo Aduba, Jeanne Sakata, Jesse Liebman

Jeanne Sakata, Joel de la Fuente, Francis Jue

A HEMLOCK GROVE reunion for Famke Janssen and Joel de la Fuente

Famke Janssen, Joel de la Fuente, Madeleine Martin

Jesse Liebman, Lisa Rothe, Jeanne Sakata, Kim Martin-Cotten, Joel de la Fuente, Michael Wurl Lawson

Lia Chang, Joel de la Fuente, Jeanne Sakata, Garth Kravits

Glenn Fleshler, Joel de la Fuente, John Ellison Conlee

Jeanne Sakata, Lisa Rothe, Margaret Vandenburg, Glenn Fleshler, John Ellison Conlee

Jeanne Sakata, Vanessa Morosco, Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams, Lisa Rothe, Cat Tate Starmer

Mary K. Botosan, Jeanne Sakata, Lisa Rothe, Cat Tate Starmer, Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams

Michael Wurl Larson, Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams, Mary K. Botosan, Joel de la Fuente, Cat Tate Starmer, Kim Martin-Cotten, Vanessa Morosco, Lisa Rothe, Jeanne Sakata, Jesse Liebman

Jesse Liebman, Jeanne Sakata, Michael Wurl Larson

Johnny Wu and Jeanne Sakata

Morgan Jenness, Joel de la Fuente, Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams, Lisa Rothe

 

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