Kerry Kennedy and the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, and The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) will present a one-night-only benefit reading of Ariel Dorfman's play SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER: Voices From Beyond The Dark, adapted from Kerry Kennedy's book of the same name, on Monday, May 3 at 7 p.m. All proceeds from the reading will benefit the relief efforts of Habitat for Humanity in Chile.
The reading, presented by Ariel Dorfman, Kerry Kennedy and the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, and The Public Theater, will be directed by David Esbjornson and feature Elias Koteas, Alfred Molina, Julianne Moore, Viggo Mortensen, Aidan Quinn, Gloria Reuben, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, and Debra Winger. All tickets to the reading are $175 and may be ordered at (212) 967-7555 or www.publictheater.org beginning on Tuesday, April 20. All ticket holders will be invited to an exclusive post-show reception featuring the cast and creative team.
Ariel Dorfman's haunting play, based on Kerry Kennedy's extraordinary book, chronicles the true-story accounts of heroic people withstanding horrific human rights abuses across the globe. Voices
from around the world cry out against violence and oppression - from world leaders like Desmond Tutu to the unknown activists working on the ground level. SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER is a powerful and moving testimony of the will of the human spirit to rise up against injustice, even in the face of
incredible darkness.
"By shining the light on human rights defenders around the world, who have displayed acts of extraordinary courage in the face of adversity, we can also help the people of Chile rebuild their lives and livelihoods," said Kerry Kennedy, the author of Speak Truth To Power, from which the play was adapted.
"We are very grateful to The Public Theater for aiding our recovery efforts in Chile," said Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. "We are delighted to have such notable individuals offer their support as we seek to rebuild homes and help families rebuild their lives."
ARIEL DORFMAN, the Chilean American writer and human rights activist, is a distinguished professor at Duke University and has written books in Spanish and English that have been translated into more than 40 languages. His plays have been staged in over 100 countries and have received numerous awards, including the Laurence Olivier Award (for Death and the Maiden, which was made into a feature film by Roman Polanski). His latest novel is Americanos: Los pasos de Murietta, and Houghton Mifflin will bring out the second volume of his memoirs in 2011. In July, he has the honor of delivering the Nelson Mandela Lecture in South Africa.
DAVID ESBJORNSON has been the Artistic Director at Seattle Repertory and Classic Stage Company
in NY. Highlights include: The Goat or Who is Sylvia? (Broadway), The Play About the Baby (The Century), The Ride Down Mt. Morgan and Resurrection Blues by Arthur Miller (Broadway, The Guthrie), the world premiere of Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and the first public presentation of Perestroika, Homebody/Kabul (London), Neal Bell's Thérèse Raquin (CSC; OBIE), In the Blood by Suzan-Lori Parks (The Public), Tuesdays With Morrie (Minetta Lane) and Kevin Kling's How? How? Why? Why? Why?. Favorite revivals include: The Normal Heart (The Public), Hamlet (Theatre For A New Audience; OBIE), A Few Good Men (Royale Haymarket-London), All My Sons (Huntington), Much Ado About Nothing (NYSF), Mud and Drowning (Signature), Endgame (Drama Desk Nomination), The Maids, Entertaining Mr. Sloane (Lucille Lortel Award), The Entertainer
(CSC), Farmyard (NYTW), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Summer and Smoke (Guthrie), Twelfth Night and Lady From Dubuque (Seattle Repertory).
