From Christian Toto at Hollywood in Toto: "The play in question almost certainly casts the Obama-era FBI in a toxic light given what we already know about some of the texts. The production employs Verbatim Theatre, a style which uses sources like grand jury testimony and official documents to tell a story. The drama doesn’t flow from a playwright’s imagination, as is the case with the vast majority of plays.
In theory, that makes it harder to slam the material as biased or propaganda. The production’s email alert insisted the show will go on. The makers vowed to find a new theater to host the play."
For many decades, Verbatim Theatre has had a wide and dubious history simply because court testimony, congressional records, or witness interviews can produce massive volumes of information that by necessity must be selectively edited into 90 or 120 minute live performance. Example: Titanic (2012); testimony from 97 witnesses to the British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry in May, 1912.
Ok. That's straight forward enough, but many of these endeavors veer hard-left, quickly. Unquestioned Integrity: The Hill/Thomas Hearing (1993); testimony given by Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1991 after she falsely accused him of sexual harassment.
The Girlfriend Experience (2008); about a seaside brothel that specializes in services to an older clientele.
Ferguson (2015); grand jury testimonies from the shooting of teenager Michael Brown in 2014 by police officer Darren Wilson. Nine actors walked out on the play before it opened because it didn't paint Brown as an innocent gentle giant gunned down in cold blood by a cop. It told the truth, instead.
Officer Wilson was acquitted of all charges related to the death of Michael Brown. Violent riots rampaged through the streets of Ferguson, Missouri after the verdict was announced.
*Thank you WhatFingerNews for the linkage. It is much appreciated!
