At People’s Light, 1 play, 1 actor, 38 roles about the Japanese internment during World War II

When the pandemic shuttered everything in March 2020, People’s Light was in the final rehearsals for “Hold These Truths,” starring Steven Eng. Eng plays American sociologist Gordon Hirabayashi, a Japanese Quaker who took his case objecting to the internment of 120,000 Japanese living in the United States during World War II to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Hirabayashi, an American citizen and optimist in the beliefs and values of the United States, became a civil rights hero, and his case, Hirabayashi v. United States, continues his legacy decades later.

“I think a number of us are trying to reconcile our own beliefs in equality and justice” with how often those beliefs aren’t actualized in the lives of people of color, Asians, and other groups, Zak Berkman, People’s producing artistic director, said.

When the pandemic required People’s Light to cancel “Hold These Truths,” the Malvern-based theater company quickly pivoted to filming the production and streamed it. As luck would have it, People’s Light was able to reassemble the entire “Hold These Truths” team for this in-person run, just over two years later.

When they first gathered for rehearsal, “it was surreal,” Berkman said. “We all expected it would take Steven some time to relearn his lines. But somewhere in him he had it on hard drive, and he just had access to it. It was kind of amazing.”

In addition to portraying Gordon Hirabayashi, Eng plays 37 other characters — lawyers, judges, family members. “It’s a tour de force,” Berkman said.

This production also marks the return of People’s Light’s use of smart caption glasses, manufactured by Epson America Inc. In 2019, People’s Light was the first U.S theater group to use these special glasses to help people with difficulty hearing. During the play, the script runs along the bottom half of the glasses, cued by sound effects or key words in the dialogue.

The experience is like watching subtitles and serves as alternative to open-caption screening, where text is scrolled on a screen fixed somewhere on or above the stage.

“Some people absolutely adore them because you are no longer wedded to the open-caption screen,” explained Leigh Jackson, director of hospitality and access at People’s Light. “The open-caption screen is planted on one specific spot on the stage. But these allow you to follow the actors around, no matter where they are standing.

“It’s incredibly freeing.”

April 6 through May 1. People’s Light, 39 Conestoga Rd., Malvern, 610-644-3500 or peopleslight.org. Smart glasses are available for the April 22 through May 1 performances. Masks and proof of vaccination required.

What has happened, Seth Rozin wonders, to constructive conversations – the kind of talks where people disagree, yet find some element of reason in the other point of view?

That’s the question Rozin, the producing artistic director of InterAct Theatre Co., posed to himself as wrote “Settlements.” It will be a question for the audience as well during Settlements’ world premiere at the InterAct.

In Settlements, the resident theater at a Jewish Community Center commissions a Jordanian Jewish playwright to create a new play about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It becomes controversial, threatening to tear the community apart.

On one hand are members adamant that Israel is creating an apartheid society in how it treats the Palestinians, Rozin explained. On the other side are those who believe that Israel can do no wrong.

“My main hope is to provoke conversation about this polarization in general and, more concretely, how we talk about Israel as Americans and as Jews and how we can find constructive conversations about difficult topics,” he said.

“The American Jewish community in general is more centrist and is being pulled in both ways,” he said. “The center is always in danger of moving off its nice solid base of being reasonable.”

Rozin started thinking about this particular idea in this particular form in 2014 when a similar controversy erupted at the Jewish Community Center in Washington, D.C., leading to the firing of the artistic director. It was news among theater and Jewish cultural groups at the time.

The fired artistic director, Ari Roth, now the founding producing partner of Voices Festival Productions in Washington, will discuss Settlements’ themes with Rozin in a post-matinee talk on April 10. After the talk, actors will stage a reading of Roth’s play, “My Brief But Calamitous Affair With The Minister of Culture & Censorship or Death of the Dialogue in the American Theater.”

Although Settlements draws on the Washington story, it is not intended to be interpreted as a retelling of that controversy, Rozin said.

Instead, he said, it’s about the broader issue, whether applied to the Jewish community or beyond. “This idea of multiple viewpoints is something that has evolved for me in the last 25 years,” Rozin said, pointing to some of his earlier plays, among them “Three Christs of Manhattan” in 2016 and “Human Rites” in 2018. “I’m always trying to show different points that are compelling and valid and not easy to dismiss.”

Through April 24 at the Drake, 302 S. Hicks St., Phila. 215-568-8079 or interacttheatre.org. Tickets purchased via Theatre Philadelphia during Philly Theatre Week (through April 10) are discounted. Proof of vaccination and masks required.

Philly Theatre Week (through April 10) feels as if the Philadelphia theater community has gotten together for one giant exhale of relief. Most companies, large and small, have been staging productions – 85 in all, 60% in person, 40% online.

For discounted tickets, check the Theatre Philadelphia website and compare prices with the theater company’s offerings. Depending on the day or the seat, the Theatre Week discounts (through April 10) may be the best deal. And while you are checking on price, check on COVID-19 protocols, as each venue will have its own guidelines.

In addition to discounts on current shows at the larger stages, such as the Arden Theatre Co. and its production of “Backing Track,” some theaters are offering seats for future performances at discount Theatre Week prices, although it is still wise to compare. These include tickets for “The Cherry Orchard” opening April 12 at the Wilma Theater, “Always…Patsy Cline” opening April 12 at the Walnut Street Theatre, and “Where We Belong” opening April 15 at the Philadelphia Theatre Co.

At the smaller theaters, the Theatre Week lineup is interesting, as usual. Check both Theatre Philadelphia’s and the individual companies’ websites for best prices. Here are a few of the shows still on tap.

Curio Theatre Co. presents Lanie Robertson’s play, “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill,” starring Ebony Pullum, about one of legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday’s final Philadelphia performances. (Through April 9 at 4740 Baltimore Ave., Phila. 215-921-8234 or curiotheatre.org/)

Fever Dream Repertory Co. brings to light the story of Harriette Leavitt, one the first female astronomers at Harvard University, in “Silent Sky” by Lauren Gunderson. (Through April 9, Plays & Players Theatre, 1714 Delancey Place, Phila. See Fever Dream’s Eventbrite listing.)

Chris Davis is both the writer and the star of “Drunk Lion,” the story of a drunken lion pulled back from the brink by a foreigner. Performed in a South Philly location revealed upon ticket purchase. (Through April 9. Find the event on the Theatre Philadelphia Theatre Week website, or see Chris Davis’ Eventbrite listing.)

“Catholic Guilt” troubling you? Writer and actor Kelly McCaughan may either cure you or make it far worse. Regardless, you can commune with a beer. (On April 8 at Franky Bradley’s, 1320 Chancellor St., Phila. Find the event on the Theatre Philadelphia Theatre Week website.)