Wednesday, January 21, 2026, 7:00, Hold These Truths: A Table Reading, North Shore Country Day Auditorium, 310 Green Bay Rd., Winnetka, IL 60093.

NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED.

Inspired by the true story of University of Washington student Gordon Hirabayashi, the acclaimed play Hold These Truths follows his principled resistance to the U.S. government’s decision to forcibly remove and incarcerate people of Japanese ancestry during World War II.

Hirabayashi openly defied the relocation and internment orders, refusing to report for evacuation to an internment camp. Instead, he turned himself in to the FBI to assert his belief that these policies were racially discriminatory. He was subsequently convicted by a U.S. federal district court in Seattle of defying the exclusion order and violating curfew. Hirabayashi appealed his conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled against him in 1943. Following World War II and his imprisonment, he earned a doctoral degree in sociology and became a professor. In 1987, his conviction was overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Written by award-winning actor and playwright Jeanne Sakata, the celebrated solo work Hold These Truths premiered in New York in 2012 and has since been produced dozens of times nationwide, earning rave reviews from The New Yorker, The New York Times, and other AP critics.

For this event, award-winning stage and screen actor Joel de la Fuente will present a table reading of the play, reprising his role as Gordon Hirabayashi and 36 other characters. De la Fuente spent 10 years touring Hold These Truths to critical acclaim while also starring as Chief Inspector Kido in Amazon Prime’s most watched series of its era, The Man in the High Castle, and as Dr. Johann Pryce in Netflix’s Emmy Award–winning Hemlock Grove.

Following the reading, de la Fuente will be joined onstage by Sakata for a moderated Q&A with Lisa Doi, Ph.D., assistant curator and project manager at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. Both de la Fuente and Doi are North Shore Country Day alums.

This event is suitable for youth 12+. It will not be recorded or live streamed.

Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Avery Coonley School, Avoca D37, Baker Demonstration School, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Compass Health Center, Connections for the Homeless, Evanston Scholars, Evanston Township HS D202, Family Service Center, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Kenilworth D38, Lake Bluff D65, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Roycemore School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, Wilmette Public Library, Woodlands Academy.