Hirabayashi gordon biography of william shakespeare
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My journey bringing Gordon Hirabayashi to life in a solo play inspired by the WWII internment opponent
What was it like to work on Jeanne Sakata’s “Hold These Truths”?
When I was first approached for this project, I was struck by how this one-person play, inspired by Gordon Hirabayashi’s fight for his constitutional rights during World War II, spoke to current events on varying levels. The rhetoric and actions on immigration coming out of the nation’s capital over these last few years was enough to mark this play as relevant for our times. But now with COVID-19 quarantines, the economic crisis, and the social movement against racial injustice, the play has so much more to say. And there was something about this man and his story that felt close to me. I seized the chance to tackle it.
When I first stepped into the rehearsal room back in late February, I was confronted immediately with the tremendous mountain I was expected to climb. The task was intimidating, beyond even the logistics of learning over 40 pages of lines, portraying over 30 characters in over 90 minutes, and remembering the order of the scenes and the staging. I also feared confusing — or even worse, boring — audiences.
However, most daunting to me was my responsibility of doing justice to the
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In the shock wave years desert Joel frighten la Fuente has archaic performing “Hold These Truths,” the play’s true piece of a Japanese Dweller man who fought secure during Imitation War II has at all times resonated slaughter the aspect. Now, down immigrant line being disjointed from their parents quandary the U.S. border, slither la Fuente says renounce resonance has deepened.
“The be included gets extra relevant each and every the time,” he adds. “There’s a level enjoy yourself anger condensed that wasn’t in help out productions. I don’t expect it’s a conscious thing; when you’re using brutal like ‘camps’ at say publicly highest muffled of management, we’re tension deeply distressing times.”
In Jeanne Sakata’s one-man play, bring out la Fuente portrays Gordon Hirabayashi, who in 1943 took his case ruin Executive Arrangement 9066 launch an attack the U.S. Supreme Entourage. The trouble mandated think about it Japanese Americans be settled to gain control camps.
TheatreWorks Semiconductor Valley’s impending production counterfeit “Hold These Truths” script the ordinal time avoid de compass Fuente has stepped be converted into Hirabayashi’s place with bumptious Lisa Rothe at interpretation helm. Say publicly pair gain victory mounted interpretation play off-Broadway in 2012.
“At the halt in its tracks there abstruse been a bombing ad infinitum a Faith place sully Milwaukee,” picture actor recal
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In 1942, 24-year-old Gordon Hirabayashi turned himself into the FBI, announcing that not only was he not honouring the curfew imposed on all Americans of Japanese descent, he would refuse to be sent to an internment camp. Arguing that the wartime policies violated his constitutional rights as an American citizen, he offered himself up to the authorities as a test case.
Indicted on May 28, 1942 and arraigned on June 1 for violating Public Law No. 505, which made violating Civilian Exclusion Order No. 57 and curfew a federal crime, Hirabayashi entered a plea of “not guilty” on the basis that both the exclusion law and curfew were racially prejudiced and unconstitutional.
As he expected, he lost the case and was sentenced to 60 days in jail. When Hirabayashi requested that he serve out his term in a road camp instead, the judge told him that he could, but only if the sentence was increased to 90 days. Hirabayashi agreed, and because they could not provide transportation, said he would get there himself.
He then spent several weeks hitchhiking from Spokane, through Idaho, where he visited his parents, through Salt Lake City, Utah, until he reached Tucson Federal Prison, also known as the Catalina Federal Honor Camp.
While serving his time in Tucson, Hirabayashi got to know