"Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers"

Susan Albert Loewenberg, Producing Director
A Docu-Drama by Leroy Aarons and Geoffrey Cowan
Directed by John Rubinstein
Starring John Heard, Gregory Harrison, John Vickery and Shannon Cochran

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Sponsored in part by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation; Media sponsorship provided by WCVE Public Radio

"Consistently superb work" —Los Angeles Times

L.A. Theatre Works (LATW), the leading radio theater company in the United States, offers a timely docudrama about The Washington Post’s decision to publish the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret study documenting U.S. involvement in Vietnam. The subsequent trial tested the parameters of the First Amendment, pitting the public's right to know against the government’s desire for secrecy. In this riveting historical docudrama, Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, LATW brings these important days and the subsequent trial to life. The play, based on interviews and court documents, follows The Post’s staff as they sort through the documents and try to decide if publishing the Pentagon Papers violates national security. Our government’s relationship to the media, the citizenry’s right to information and the First Amendment are all critically explored against the canvas of the Vietnam War and the secretive Nixon White House.

Tickets: $36 adults, $34 seniors 65+, $18 children 12 and under, $28 UR employees, $8 UR students