“Pentagon Papers” Docudrama 2011 China Premiere

Top Secret: The Battle for The Pentagon Papers is based on a wide range of sources including interviews with participants and documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. It follows the debate played out at Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee's home as his staff sorts through the documents and tries to decide if publishing The Papers will violate national security – and as the lawyers and publisher decide if publishing will risk criminal action and possibly huge financial consequences.

The play includes their momentous decision and the legal wrangling that followed. The government's relationship to the media and the citizenry's right to information are critically explored against the canvas of the Vietnam War and the secretive Nixon White House. Unknown to the press and other government officials at the time, President Richard Nixon and his national security advisor, Henry Kissinger, were terrified that publication of secret documents would disrupt their plans for a visit to China. The plans for this visit were kept so confidential that even the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense had been kept in the dark. Interested readers and viewers can find a vast array of background material at the play’s website, www.topsecretplay.org.

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The company’s public radio series, featuring stage plays performed by America's top actors augmented by interviews with the artists and others, can be heard in over 100 markets nationwide and can also be streamed on demand at www.latw.org. Over 9,000 libraries carry LATW's plays on audio, and recordings and teaching materials are used by over 3,000 middle and high schools across the country.