“Project Unspeakable” Reading Explores Why Our Leaders Died 1964-1968
A dramatic reading of “Project Unspeakable,” a new play about the 1960’s assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and Robert F. Kennedy, will be presented on Saturday, May 3 at 7:00pm at New England Youth Theater.
“Project Unspeakable” was inspired by James Douglass’ groundbreaking and meticulously researched book, JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters. It was written by playwright Court Dorsey and associate playwrights Debbie Lynangale and Steve Wangh (author of The Laramie Project), based on extensive research. Like the book, the script focuses not on how the four leaders died, but why.
Through the medium of live theatre, the playwrights’ intention is to challenge the silence that for decades has surrounded these four “unspeakable” assassinations, “unspeakable” being a term coined by Trappist monk Thomas Merton. By reading the play, local citizens hope to shed light on the “unspeakables” of today – the officially covered-up crimes on the part of elements within the U.S. government and their corporate allies that
have led to or worsened the multiple crises that currently beset our country and the world.
The play includes the words and stories of courageous individuals who, despite government intimidation, refused to be silent about what they knew about these assassinations. And it calls on all of us to examine our own responses over the years to such crimes, then and now, and to consider the potential for responsible action.
Since its debut on November 22, the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the script has been read in dozens of towns and cities around the country. Sixteen volunteers from the local community will perform the Brattleboro reading. They include Frederic Noyes as John F. Kennedy, John Ungerleider as Robert F. Kennedy, SIT Graduate Institute Dean Daniel Cantor Yalowitz as John Foster Dulles, and Professor Amilcar Shabazz, chair of UMass Dept. of Afro-American Studies, as Malcolm X.
New England Youth Theater is on 100 Flat Street in Brattleboro. The reading is open to the public. $10 donations to cover expenses will be gratefully accepted. Tickets will be available starting at 6:30pm at the theater, by cash or check.
To learn more about this event, please contact Bob Bady, 802-254-7750. For additional information about the “Project Unspeakable” national program, please go to www.projectunspeakable.com.
