High School Musical

Listen to actress and playwright Jeanne Sakata discuss the painful and enduring silence surrounding her family’s traumatic experience in the WWII Japanese American concentration camps. Hear her speak about finding her voice and healing through her writing, recounting the journey and development of her celebrated solo play, Hold These Truths, inspired by the Japanese American civil rights giant Gordon Hirabayashi.

Molly Smith (Artistic Director) hosts a weekly Salon featuring artists and leaders of Arena Stage. These half-hour-long weekly conversations will include some of the best thinkers and creative firebrands. Molly sits down with a variety of artists and leaders to discuss new ideas they are excited about and glimmers of hope for the future.

On Thursday, April 22 from 7- 7:30 p.m., Molly is joined by Ken Ludwig, Tony Award-winning playwright (Arena's Dear Jack, Dear Louise) and Jeanne Sakata, actress and playwright (Arena's Hold These Truths)

Playwright Jeanne Sakata and star Joel de la Fuente respond to questions from the audience and share their unique perspectives about the process of creating Hold These Truths.

Presented by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, moderated by Artistic Associate and Director of New Works, Giovanna Sardelli.

Arena Stage offers a “First Look” at Hold These Truths with Playwright Jeanne Sakata.

Jack Wiant and Jeanne Sakata have a video conversation about the 10th Anniversary production of Hold These Truths at Pasadena Playhouse, starring Ryun Yu. They discuss the origins of the work, the play’s development, and the future of the work.

Watch this video spotlight on Advantageous actress Jeanne Sakata. She discusses her journey to Sundance, Berkeley Rep, current projects, and offers advice to other artists.

Host Jennifer Field of Ideate TV interviews Jeanne on Opening Night for her work in Nisei Widows Club: How Tomi Got Her Groove Back at East West Players.

Lia Chang sits down to chat with Jeanne Sakata to talk about her inspiration to write Gordon Hirabayashi's life story, how she did her research, why she chose the solo show format, and what she hopes audiences will take away from de la Fuente's performance.

Jeanne is a Guest Lecturer at the The City University of New York’s (CUNY) Asian American/Asian Research Institute (AAARI) on September 28th, 2012. She discusses the development and writing of Hold These Truths.

Linda Lee of Ideate TV interviews Jeanne about her work in Julia Cho’s The Language Archive at East West Players, and about the language Julia “invented” for her play!

Scott Eriksson interviews Vicky Shen and Jeanne Sakata about playing mom and daughter in Vicky’s debut film, Adultolescence.