Bill Pullman & Raymond Lee to Star In Taper Legacy Reading Of THE TRIAL OF THE CATONSVILLE NINE

Center Theatre Group has announced “The Trial of the Catonsville Nine,” featuring Bill Pullman (Independence Day, The Sinner, Oleanna, The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?), and Raymond Lee (Quantom Leap, Kevin Can F*** Himself, Vietgone, Tokyo Fish Story), as the first in a series of Taper Legacy Readings on Saturday, May 18 at 7 p.m. at the Mark Taper Forum. As part of CTG:FWD, an initiative committed to special events, community gatherings, and legacy projects, established last fall by CTG's Artistic Director Snehal Desai, the Taper Legacy Readings were created to honor CTG's past and share readings from the Taper vault, while also welcoming a new era for the organization. $30 tickets are made possible by the S. Mark Taper Foundation, whose generous support has made 2024 CTG:FWD programming at the Mark Taper Forum possible. Additional funding is provided by gifts to the Artistic Director Discretionary Fund.

“The Trial of the Catonsville Nine,” written by Daniel Berrigan and directed by Michael John Garcés, will be the first play featured as a Taper Legacy Reading when it returns to the Taper stage for a one-night-only reading on May 18. The play received its world premiere at the Taper in 1971, in a production commissioned and directed by Center Theatre Group Founding Artistic Director Gordon Davidson. The reading will feature Bill Pullman, taking on the role of the author, Daniel Berrigan, and Raymond Lee as Thomas Melville, with additional casting to be announced soon. Casting by Henry Russell Bergstein, CSA.

“Last Fall, I created CTG:FWD as my first order of business as Artistic Director to utilize the Mark Taper Forum and our other spaces in new and exciting ways,” said Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Snehal Desai. “One of the projects I have most been looking forward to is the Taper Legacy Readings. Through this new series, we have the chance to gather at the Taper and remember some of the incredible stories and storytellers whose footsteps continue to echo throughout that storied venue.”

He continued, “When we were considering all the amazing plays we have produced on that stage over the years, ‘The Trial of the Catonsville Nine' caught us by surprise. Here was a play created specifically for the Taper that does what all the best plays seem to do—it holds a mirror up to society and raises voice at a time when so many were asked to stay silent. It's a reminder of the immediacy and power of live theatre, while acting as an example of the kind of timely and important work we want to be producing at CTG. Plus, we are beyond excited to welcome Bill Pullman and Raymond Lee to the Taper for what is sure to be a truly extraordinary night.”

“I also want to take a moment to thank the S. Mark Taper Foundation for their generous support of the Taper Legacy Readings. Their support allows us to offer all tickets to this reading at the same price. We hope everyone that wants to will be able to join us at the Taper for this truly special evening,” Desai concluded.

The Catonsville Nine were a group of Catholic peace activists including Jesuit priest Daniel Berrigan, who put their lives and careers on the line when they broke into the Catonsville, Maryland draft board office on May 17, 1968, took 378 draft folders from the files, and burned them in the parking lot using homemade napalm in protest of the Vietnam War. The incident was one of the most famous of its time and inspired hundreds more anti-war demonstrations—as well as this searing dramatization of the events.

“I'm inspired by the opportunity to direct this iteration of ‘The Trial of the Catonsville Nine' because it gives me a way to channel my hope, fear and anger, which can feel overwhelming,” said director Michael John Garcés. “It is a play that is an urgent inquiry into what it means to be a citizen. How do we as individuals take a moral stand in the face of political and economic power doing great harm to its own citizens, to innocents across the world, and to our environment? What actions can and must be taken to do our part to create the nation, and the world, that we want to live in, that we want our children to thrive in? What are the limits of civil disobedience when the stakes are life and death?  How do we responsibly resist?”

He continued, “I've always admired how many plays have been born at the Mark Taper Forum that are not only about personal morality but about social responsibility. Great American plays examine how to be great Americans. I think of ‘Zoot Suit;' ‘Angels in America;' ‘Dream on Monkey Mountain;' ‘Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992;' ‘Children of a Lesser God;' ‘Chavez Ravine;' etc., etc., etc. This play exemplifies that vital impulse and is at least as relevant as it has ever been. It is about ordinary people doing extraordinary things to say NO to state sponsored violence. It is about demanding that America should embody its best ideals and not its worst impulses. I can't imagine a better thing to do on stage right here, right now.”

Rob Weinert-Kendt, editor of American Theatre, wrote about a 2019 revival of “The Trial of the Catonsville Nine” in America Magazine, calling it “a stirring, often poetic piece of protest art … This time capsule of an age ever more polarized than our own, holds it at a remove that often makes its contemporary resonances—about abuse of power, government transparency and the necessity of resistance—ring all the louder. The debate over U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts is hardly over, of course, nor is the Gordian knot of finding a coherent way to oppose both violence and injustice. If there are no clean moral victories on offer from this new look at ‘Catonsville Nine,' it is still moving to hear Berrigan's words ring down the years.”

Laura Collins-Hughes in The New York Times said, “This is theater as civic meditation. It enlists the spectators as witnesses, exhorting the Americans in the room to consider what our nation is doing in our name and how, if we oppose that, we intend to stop it.”  

In addition to the reading, the evening will feature a talkback and a deeper exploration of the history, time, and themes featured in the play led by award-winning writer, editor, and journalist, Gustavo Arellano, who will be serving as the dramaturg for this reading.

The next Taper Legacy Reading will take place on Saturday, June 15 with more information to be announced at a later date.

For more information, visit CenterTheatreGroup.org.

ABOUT CTG:FWD

CTG:FWD was created by Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Snehal Desai to provide greater opportunities for community gatherings and conversations, can't-miss special events, legacy projects, and ways to help center Los Angeles-based artists and the arts community. It also provides a unique opportunity to open the doors of the Mark Taper Forum—which announced a pause in subscription programming for the 2023/24 Season—and welcome members of the community back into that space for some of these special events and programs. 

CTG:FWD is funded in part by special artistic discretionary funds that were raised for new Artistic Director Snehal Desai's first year to be used on special programming, gatherings, and events like the ones outlined in this new initiative. 

Center Theatre Group, one of the nation's preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles' leading not-for-profit theatre company, which, under the leadership of Artistic Director Snehal Desai, Managing Director / CEO Meghan Pressman, and Producing Director Douglas C. Baker, programs seasons at the Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In addition to presenting and producing the broadest range of theatrical entertainment in the country, Center Theatre Group is one of the country's leading producers of ambitious new works through commissions and world premiere productions and a leader in interactive community engagement and education programs that reach across generations, demographics, and circumstances to serve Los Angeles. Center Theatre Group has produced more than 700 productions across its three stages, including such iconic shows as “Zoot Suit;” “Angels in America;” “The Kentucky Cycle;” “Biloxi Blues;” “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992;” “Children of a Lesser God;” “Curtains;” “The Drowsy Chaperone;” “9 to 5: The Musical;” and “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo.” CenterTheatreGroup.org

The S. Mark Taper Foundation, founded in 1989, is a private family foundation dedicated to enhancing the quality of people's lives by supporting nonprofit organizations and their work in our communities. The S. Mark Taper Foundation is committed to grantmaking that aligns with the values of diversity, equity and inclusion.

American Express is the official credit card for Center Theatre Group.

BIOGRAPHIES

Bill Pullman is the star of the USA hit, THE SINNER, in which he plays ‘Detective Harry Ambrose'. He is best known for his role of ‘President Whitmore' in the INDEPENDENCE DAY films, as well as playing ‘Lone Starr' in SPACEBALLS. Other notable film credits include: WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING, CASPER, and LOST HIGHWAY. In recent years, he can be seen in THE BALLAD OF LEFTY BROWN, BATTLE OF THE SEXES, THE EQUALIZER, and DARK WATERS. On television, he can be seen as President Gilchrist on NBC's 1600 PENN, David Mahoney in the Netflix limited series HALSTON, Jaime Dimon in TOO BIG TO FAIL, and Oswald Danes on TORCHWOOD: MIRACLE DAY. He can currently be seen as 'Alex Murdaugh' in the Lifetime two-part series MURDAUGH MURDERS: THE MOVIE.

Raymond Lee most recently starred in the lead role of Dr. Ben Song on NBC's QUANTUM LEAP. He was recently seen in the independent feature THE UNKNOWN COUNTRY opposite Lily Gladstone and the Paramount feature film TOP GUN:MAVERICK. Series regular credits include AMC's KEVIN CAN F*** HIMSELF and Alan Ball's HBO series, HERE AND NOW. Recurring roles include the HBOMax series MADE FOR LOVE, FOX's PRODIGAL SON, Amazon's MOZART IN THE JUNGLE and ABC's SCANDAL. Theater credits include the world premiere productions of Vietgone at Manhattan Theater Club, which he was awarded the Theatre World Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Debut, Office Hour opposite Sandra Oh and Cambodian Rock Band at The South Coast Repertory.

MICHAEL JOHN GARCÉS is an LA-based director and playwright and a professor of practice at Arizona State University. He is also one of Center Theatre Group's L.A. Artists in Residence. Recently: productions at The Guthrie Theatre, Theatre Horizon and Cornerstone Theater Company, where he served as Artistic Director until 2023. Upcoming: the world premiere of “Fake It Until You Make It” by Larissa FastHorse.

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