Talkback Series on Japanese Internment During WWII Follows HOLD THESE TRUTHS at Sheen Center

Following select performances of Jeanne Sakata's Hold These Truths, directed by Lisa Rothe and starring Joel de la Fuente (Amazon's The Man in the High Castle), 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.

Panelists will include Julie Azuma (President of "Different Roads to Learning"), Albert Fox Cahn Esq. (Legal Director of The Council on American-Islamic Relations, New York), Allison Hi (member of the Day of Remembrance Committee), David Okada (co-chair of the Japanese American Citizen's League), Hussein Rashid, PhD (academic, speaker, educator, and founder of islamicate L3C) and playwright Jeanne Sakata (actor of film, television, and theater, and the writer of Hold These Truths). Other panelists may be added at a later date.

The talkbacks will take place following the matinee performances of Hold These Truths today, December 9, and tomorrow, December 10. 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.

Hold These Truths, a solo play inspired by the life O. Gordon Hirabayashi, will play at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker Street at the corner of Elizabeth Street) December 6-20. Performances are scheduled for Wed 12/6, Thu 12/7, Fri 12/8, Sun 12/10, Tue 12/12, Fri 12/15, Sun 12/17, Mon 12/18, Tue 12/19, and Wed 12/20 at 7:30pm; Sat 12/9 and Sat 12/16 at 2pm & 7:30pm; and Sun 12/10 and Sun 12/17 at 2pm. 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. The performance will run approximately 90 minutes, with no intermission.

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 was nominated for the 2013 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance.

HANG A TALE is a New York City based, non-profit theater company. Jesse Liebman, Kim Martin-Cotten and Michael Arden Larson have come together to create intimate, actor-driven productions for the Off-Broadway stage.

Our mission is to reexamine, reimagine and reinvigorate stories for the theater. We seek tales of universality, old and new, that transcend the limitations of time. We search for stories that inspire us and start conversations about our lives and the world around us. We do not to limit ourselves to any particular playwright or style. We embrace our diverse, dynamic surroundings and remain open to co-creation and inclusiveness. Go to www.hangatale.org for more information.

THE SHEEN CENTER FOR THOUGHT & CULTURE is a forum to showcase works highlighting the true, the good, and the beautiful. Located downtown on historic Bleecker Street, the Sheen Center is a vibrant new arts organization that focuses on theater, music, film, and talk. A project of the Archdiocese of New York, the state-of-the-art complex encompasses the 270-seat Loreto Theater, equipped with five-camera high-definition livestream capability and a multi-track recording studio; the 80-seat Black Box Theater; four rehearsal studios; and an art gallery. It was named after the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, best known for his popular, inspirational radio and TV ministry in the 1950s and 60s. Learn more at www.sheencenter.org.

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