Staff Pick
LA Theatre Works in Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers
February 7 & 8
Drayton Foltz, Director of Production and Technology
This production is exciting for me for many reasons. L.A. Theatre Works is a more than 30 year old institution that is comprised of artists at the top of their craft, dedicated to their art, doing what they love to do. The format is one of my absolute favorites: a radio play where I can sit back in my seat and focus on the spoken word. I admire works that push our comfort level as the subject matter becomes more relevant. Some of my favorite moments from my career have been listening to the same type of readings, as artists present work for consideration as fully-staged productions or just give the playwright the chance to hear their words read aloud.
I must admit a bias for Top Secret's subject matter. I live in probably the most liberal section of Baltimore and every morning I stand in front of my Tivoli Radio and listen to NPR while I savor a cup of overpriced, fresh-brewed, sustainably grown coffee, which I admit I care way too much about, as I slowly start my day listening to the dulcet tones of NPR's Morning Edition. So, you can imagine my dismay a couple months ago, when I heard Steve Inskeep report that the White House had managed to lose over 10 million emails from email accounts used by White House staffers who had correspondence with the RNC. The "missing" emails all were sent between March of 2003 and October of 2005 (beginning of the Iraq War through the aftermath of Katrina). I've lost my car keys before, cuff links, a phone number here and there, but that's a lot different than 10 million emails. That's like losing the Titanic in your bathtub. These missing emails provide an up-to-the-minute, real life example of the issues that Top Secret explores.
So, anytime I can have the opportunity to listen to an artist's interpretation of our history, on topics as important as the Vietnam era and the freedom of the press, and have it intersect with some of the real-life characters from that history – as will happen here at the Center in February 7 at the discussion before the performance – I know it will be a good evening that couldn't be closer to the mission of the Clarice Smith Center.
Read a note from the Geoffrey Cowan, author of Top Secret.
For comprehensive background on The Pentagon Papers and L.A. Theatre Works' production of Top Secret, click here.
