East West Players presents the World Premiere of Dawn's Light by Jeanne Sakata

Dawn's Light Reviews

ASIAN WEEK - Phil Chung

UCLA ASIAN ARTS - LiAnn Ishizuka

LA TIMES – Lewis Segal

"Fine-grained tour de force"
"Couldn't be more timely"
“Thoughtful”

DAILY NEWS - Evan Henerson

3 1/2 STARS!

"Enlightening"
"Splendidly tailored"
"Direct and unflashy performance"
"Efficient telling"

PASADENA WEEKLY - Leigh Kennicott

"Heartrending"
"Steadfast Exuberance"
"Yu helps bring us vivid images"
"Superb"

Full Review

BACKSTAGE WEST - Jennie Webb

"Sakata has written an
absolutely lovely solo show"
"Beautifully performed"
"Lovingly produced"
"Yu delivers a fantastic performance"
"Kubzansky directs the hell out
of this noteworthy story"

Full Review

LA DOWNTOWN NEWS - Jeff Favre

"Confidently claiming the story"
"Stellar"
"Remarkable piece of entertainment"
"Should be Seen"

Full Review

THE RAFU SHIMPO - Joyce Tse

"A tale of heroism"
"Yu Masterfully tackles the roles"
"Electrifying"
"Striking"

THEATER TIMES – Cristofer Gross

"Extraordinary Story"
"faithful and inventive staging"
"Considerable talents of Ryun Yu"
"Always-Engaging"
"Beautifully realized window
into a scandalous hypocrisy"
"Sublime sound design"
"Unforgettable"

Full Review

DAILY TROJAN – Joyce Chen

"Honest Storytelling"
“Wonderfully mysterious”
"Sakata has extraordinary ability"
"Colorful & Relatable"
"Ryun Yu plays Hirabayashi to perfection"
"Fascinating"
"Deeply Human"

Full Review

LA WEEKLY – Steven Leigh Morris

"[Yu] revealing impressive versatility"
"Charms"

Full Review

LA CITYBEAT – Don Shirley

"Kubzansky's staging and Yu are excellent"

Full Review

LA STAGE SCENE.COM – Steven Stanley

"Engrosses, Entertains & Moves"
"Gripping, Suspensfu"
"Yu does absolutely stunning work
as Gordon."
"Magnificent"
"Powerful"

Full Review

ACCESSIBLY LIVE OFF-LINE – Rich Borowy

"A powerful message"
"Outstanding"
"Masterly Directed"
"This performance packs a punch"

DAWN'S LIGHT:
THE JOURNEY OF GORDON HIRABAYASHI

By Jeanne Sakata
Directed by Jessica Kubzansky

Based on a true story.

During WWII in Seattle, University of Washington student Gordon Hirabayashi agonizes over U.S. government orders to forcibly remove and imprison all people of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast. As he fights to reconcile his country's betrayal with his Constitutional beliefs, Gordon journeys toward a greater understanding of America's triumphs and failures.

WORLD PREMIERE
Previews - November 1 - 4, 2007
Opening Night - Wednesday November 7, 2007
Performance Run - November 8 - December 2, 2007

Wednesday - Saturday @ 8 pm, Sunday @ 2:00pm

*NO PERFORMANCE Thursday, November 22, 2007

$60 Opening Night
$35 Regular Tickets
$30 Students & Seniors
$20 Preview Tickets

American Sign Language-interpreted performance
Sunday, November 25, 2007 @ 2:00 pm
$20 Tickets for Deaf & Hard of Hearing Patrons

For more information, please call East West Players at (213) 625-7000 or email info@eastwestplayers.org.
Click here to visit the Mark Taper Forum online for more details.

Generous support for this production is provided by the
S. Mark Taper Foundation Endowment for East West Players.

Produced in Association with the Japanese American National Museum, the UCLA Asian American Studies Center and the UCLA Department of Asian American Studies.

Click photos for hi-resolution
All photos are of Ryun Yu

Photos by Michael Lamont