Hair Like the Sun - Why Ruth?

While I'm certain that Hair Like the Sun will prompt many questions, it's one of the things I'm hoping for, there's one question I'm certain will come up. Why is the main character in a play about the Japanese Internment Camps a white, teenage girl? That is a fair question, and I'd like to answer it now.

The first reason is that this play is a true story. Ruth Mix really was a white, teenage girl who spent the majority of World War II volunteering in the Gila River internment camp. Obviously, Ruth's story isn't the only story to come out of this tragedy. But it is one of the stories, and it is a story worth telling. Hopefully this will be the first of many such stories about the internment camps.

Hair Like the Sun - Table Read

The cast of 'Hair Like the Sun'

Maya Angelou tells the story of the first time she heard someone read A Tale of Two Cities aloud. She'd read the book before and found it adequate, at best. She didn't understand what it really meant until a mentor of hers took the book in hand and read it, using her voice to illuminate the meaning and delve beyond the ink of the page. it was only then that she truly understood what the book was about and what it truly meant.

This is a little how I felt when I sat down for the first official table read for my play. I thought I understood what these words truly meant. After all, I was the one writing them; I'd been writing and rewriting them for the past 3 years. A huge chunk of my life has been dedicated to these particular words. So you'd think that I, the author, knew what they meant.

As many writers come to understand, it is often the human voice that gives meaning to the words we write. Last night I saw a group of seven amazing actors bring these characters to life, giving voice to people I'd only heard talk in my head. For the first time, I felt like I truly understood who these characters are and what their story truly means.