Contemporary Asian Theater Scene CATS is continuing their conversation with theater artists making their mark, on Wednesday, July 27 at 5:00 pm PST/ 8:00 pm EST featuring Director and Playwright Jeffrey Lo and award-winning actor, Jomar Tagatac. The chat, moderated by Leianne Lamb, will stream on Facebook Live on the CATS page.
Jeffrey and Jomar’s latest collaboration is a co-production of Jeanne Sakata’s Hold These Truths which ended its critically acclaimed run at San Francisco Playhouse on July 3, and will begin previews at Capital Stage in Sacramento on August 25. CATS last program featured a discussion with Jeanne.
Photos: Closing Night of San Francisco Playhouse’s Production of Jeanne Sakata’s HOLD THESE TRUTHS
During World War II, Gordon Hirabayashi, a student at University of Washington in Seattle, 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.
In Hold These Truths, Jomar plays Gordon Hirabayashi and 30+ characters. Now that theater is returning to the actual stage, Leianne will discuss Jeffrey and Jomar’s take on being part of the first play to be produced in San Francisco post-Covid, and their perspectives on how theater drives them and the audience to take action.
Jeffrey Lo (He/Him/His) is a Filipino-American playwright and director based in the Bay Area. He is the recipient of the Leigh Weimers Emerging Artist Award, the 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 TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, 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, The Asian American International Film Festival, San Jose Repertory and is a company member of Ferocious Lotus Theatre Company and SF Playground. In addition to 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 Director Community Partnerships and 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.
Jomar Tagatac* Jomar was last seen at Capital Stage in VIETGONE. Recently he appeared at San Francisco Playhouse as Mark in ART, and DJ Loki in TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY (Theater Mu). At A.C.T. he was seen as Mr. Botard in RHINOCEROS and Bob Cratchit in A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Other credits include Playwright and others in VIETGONE, Fortinbras in HAMLET, George in LANGUAGE ARCHIVE (Theatreworks), Actor 1 in KING OF THE YEES (San Francisco Playhouse); THE WAR OF THE ROSES, MACBETH, EVERYBODY, AS YOU LIKE IT (CalShakes), THE HAPPY ONES, and DOGEATERS (Magic Theatre). Jomar is a recipient of a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Principle Actor in a Play, and TBA Award for Outstanding Performance in a Featured Role. He earned an MFA from A.C.T. (he/him/his) PERFORMANCE TIMES: Wednesdays at 7pm Thursdays at 7pm Fridays at 8pm Saturdays at 2pm & 8pm Sundays at 2pm PERFORMANCE LENGTH: 110 minutes, no intermission BOX OFFICE: Hours: Mon. – Fri. 10:00 am – 5:00 pm Phone: 916-995-5464 Email: boxoffice@capstage.org Website: capstage.org TICKETS: $25 – $49
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer, an Award winning filmmaker 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. Her short film, When the World Was Young recently garnered a 2021 DisOrient Film Audience Choice Award for Best Short Narrative. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, 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. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations.
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