Capital Stage Company will present the Sacramento premiere of Jeanne Sakata’s Award winning solo play, Hold These Truths, based on the inspiring true story of Gordon Hirabayashi. Helmed by Jeffrey Lo, the production will run January 20 – February 21, 2021 at Capital Stage, 2215 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95816.
Gordon Hirabayashi, University of Washington student and practicing Quaker, struggles to reconcile his fervent belief in the U.S. Constitution with the government’s orders to incarcerate all people of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast. His work ultimately leads to the 1943 Supreme Court case, Hirabayashi v. United States.
Jomar Tagatac will portray Gordon Hirabayashi and 37 other characters in Hold These Truths. Tagatac most recently appeared in Tiny Beautiful Things as Writer #3 (San Francisco Playhouse), at A.C.T. as Mr. Botard in Rhinoceros and Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol. Other credits include Playwright and others in Vietgone, Fortinbras in Hamlet, and Fortunado/Mata in Monstress. His recent Bay Area credits include George in The Language Archive (Theatreworks), Actor 1 in King of the Yees and Daniel in You Mean to Do Me Harm (San Francisco Playhouse); Quang in Vietgone (Capital Stage Company); You For Me For You (Crowded Fire Theater); and The War of the Roses , Macbeth, Everybody, As You Like It, and Life Is a Dream (California Shakespeare Theater). Other credits include Rashomon (Ubuntu Theater Project); Caught (Shotgun Players); Jesus in India, Every Five Minutes, The Happy Ones, and Dogeaters (Magic Theatre); and Rights of Passage (New Conservatory Theatre Center). Jomar was the recipient of the Theater Bay Area Outstanding Performance in a Featured Role in 2018. He earned a BA in theater from San Diego State University and an MFA from The American Conservatory Theater. (he/him/his)
Subscriptions are available now by contacting the box office at 916-995-5464 or online at capstage.org. Single tickets will go on sale on Aug. 1. Capital Stage Company is located at 2215 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95816.
Jeffrey Lo (Director) is a Filipino-American playwright and director based in the Bay Area. He is the recipient of the 2014 Leigh Weimers Emerging Arist Award, the 2012 Emerging Artist Laureate by Arts Council Silicon Valley and Theatre Bay Area Director’s TITAN Award. Selected directing credits include The Language Archive and The Santaland Diaries at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Vietgone at Capital Stage, A Doll’s House, Part 2 and Eurydice at Palo Alto Players (TBA Awards finalist for Best Direction), Peter and the Starcatcher and Noises Off at Hillbarn Theatre, The Grapes of Wrath, The Crucible and Yellow Face at Los Altos Stage Company and Uncle Vanya at the Pear Theatre (BATCC award for Best Production). As a playwright, his plays have been produced and workshopped at The BindleStiff Studio, City Lights Theatre Company and Custom Made Theatre Company. His play Writing Fragments Home was a finalist for the Bay Area Playwright’s Conference and a semi-finalist for the O’Neill Playwright’s Conference. Jeffrey has also worked with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, San Jose Repertory and is a company member of Ferocious Lotus Theatre Company and SF Playground In addition not his work in theatre he works as an educator and advocate for issues of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and has served as a grant panelist for the Zellerbach Family Foundation, Silicon Valley Creates and Theatre Bay Area. He is the Casting Director at the Tony Award Winning TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, a graduate of the Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute and a proud alumnus of the UC Irvine Drama Department. For more visit www.JeffreyWritesAPlay.com
Jeanne Sakata’s nationally acclaimed solo play HOLD THESE TRUTHS (2013 Drama Desk Nomination, Oustanding Solo Performance; 2019 Theatre Bay Awards, Outstanding Production, Principal Performance and Direction, San Diego Critics Circle Award, Outstanding Solo Performance) has had over 20 productions since its 2007 East West Players world premiere, including sold-out and extended runs at Barrington Stage Company, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, and Arena Stage, with additional productions at San Diego Repertory, Cultch Historic Theatre in Vancouver, LA Theatre Works, Guthrie Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, ACT Seattle, Lyric Stage Company, Perseverance Theatre, PlayMakers Repertory Company, Terra Nova Collective, Hang A Tale, New Century Theatre, Coachella Valley Repertory, Plays and Players, Honolulu Theatre for Youth (co-produced with Daniel Dae Kim) and Silk Road Rising. As an actress, Jeanne enjoyed TV guest star/recurring roles this season on Shondaland’s STATION 19, Disney Plus’ HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL: THE MUSICAL: THE SERIES, NCIS LOS ANGELES, and Disney’s BIG HERO 6, as well as lending her voiceover talents to two animation projects with Marvel and Apple, which will debut in the fall. Onstage in New York, Jeanne was featured as soulful and spunky “Mom” in the Vineyard Theatre’s Off-Broadway premiere of DO YOU FEEL ANGER? and has also performed with the Public Theater, Lincoln Center Theater, Kennedy Center, Mark Taper Forum, Geffen Playhouse, South Coast Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Rep, ACT Seattle, Portland Center Stage. SPECIAL HONORS: LA Ovation Award, Outstanding Lead Actress, Chay Yew’s RED, East West Players; East West Players Trailblazer Award, Outstanding Artistic Achievement; Lee Melville Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Los Angeles Theatre Community, Playwrights’ Arena; Outstanding Artist Award, LA Asian Pacific American Friends of the Theatre. www.jeannesakata.com, www.holdthesetruths.info
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia has appeared in the filmsWolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young.
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