First amendment v. classified information – L. A. Theatre Works’ Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers
The ongoing first amendment battle between classified government information and freedom of the press is brought to life in L. A. Theatre Works docudrama Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers.
The ever-evolving work that started as a docudrama airing on National Public Radio in 1991, and became a national touring show culminating in an acclaimed Off-Broadway run in early 2010 at the New York Theatre Workshop, is now available for listening for a limited time on L.A. Theatre Works website.
The show also includes panel discussions with leading journalists and political figures, including author Carl Bernstein and former White House counsel John Dean, who give us their perspectives on this landmark First Amendment case, and how the Pentagon Papers affected the future of journalism.
About:
In the late 1960’s, a classified government study of the Vietnam War revealed that the U.S. had misled the public regarding its intentions in Southeast Asia. Yet the Nixon administration continued to paint an optimistic picture of the war effort while sending more and more young Americans into the conflict. One of the document’s contributors, Daniel Ellsburg, decided that the public needed to know the truth about Vietnam, and leaked the study to the press. The result shook America to its core and challenged the First Amendment, as you’ll hear in our story, Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers.
Written by Leroy Aarons and Geoffrey Cowan. Starring John Heard as Ben Bradlee, Susan Sullivan as Katherine Graham, and Gregory Harrison as Brian Kelly. With Diane Adair, Bo Foxworth, John Getz, James Gleason, Raphael Sbarge, Russell Soder, Peter van Norden, Tom Virtue, and Geoffrey Wade.
LISTEN: Part 1 (1st Hour), Part 2 (2nd Hour), Bonus Content- First Amendment Perspectives
