THE TRIAL OF THE CATONSVILLE NINE Opens 2/14-3/21

On May 17th, 1968, two Catholic priests, and seven Catholic activists including a nurse, a nun, an artist and four others all walked into the selective service office Local Board 33, located in the Knights of Columbus building in Catonsville, Maryland, grabbed hundreds of 1-A draft files and burned them with homemade napalm in protest against U.S. involvement in Vietnam. The publicity and news coverage from the ensuing trial was instrumental in galvanizing the American anti-war movement. The Actors' Gang presents The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, Daniel Berrigan's free-verse dramatization based on the actual records of the trial in which he and eight other defendants were convicted. The Trial of the Catonsville Nine opens on Saturday, February 14 with performances continuing through March 21. Low-priced previews begin February 5.

"Is there a difference between breaking the law and committing a crime?" asks director Jon Kellam. "Civil disobedience is an inherently American and truly patriotic act."

"The Catonsville Nine were sentenced to a collective 18-20 years in prison for a crime that caused a little more than $100 in damage," Kellam continues. "We claim to be a world leader of moral ideals and human rights, but in what ways have we allowed economic and corporate interests to overshadow that responsibility? These are some of the compelling questions that this play inspires."

The Trial of the Catonsville Nine premiered at the Mark Taper Forum in 1971 where it was directed by then-artistic director Gordon Davidson, garnering him the Los Angeles Drama Critics' Circle Award. Davidson went on to direct the Broadway production (Tony nomination) and subsequent feature film. In August 2007, The Actors' Gang presented a star-studded reading of the play at the Kirk Douglas Theatre that was directed by Davidson and benefited The Actors' Gang and Office of the Americas.

The current, fully-staged Actors' Gang production stars Andrew E. Wheeler as Daniel Berrigan; Scott Harris as Philip Berrigan; Chris Schultz as Thomas Lewis; Cameron Dye as David Darst; Corey G. Lovett as George Mische; Patti Tippo as Marjorie Melville; Robert Shampain as Thomas Melville; Paige Lindsey White as Mary Moylan; Ethan Kogan as John Hogan; and Adele Robbins as the Judge. Set design is by Sibyl Wickersheimer; lighting design is by Jacqueline Reid; costume design is by Susan Dalian; and sound design is by David Robbins.

Jesuit priest, teacher, poet and activist Daniel Berrigan is the author of many books of poetry and prose, including Time without Number, America is Hard to Find, and Night Flight to Hanoi. Influenced by Dorothy Day and the pacifist Catholic Worker Movement, as well as by his experience with the worker-priest movement in France, Berrigan became an early voice of opposition to the war in Vietnam. He was a sponsor of the National Catholic Peace Fellowship and co-founder of Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam. In 1968 he traveled with Dr. Howard Zinn to North Vietnam to escort home three American prisoners of war. Seeing the effects of bombing and napalm on the Vietnamese people further motivated his antiwar activity, including his participation in the Catonsville Nine event. After Catonsville, Berrigan spent several months underground and after his capture, 18 months in prison. Berrigan has continued peace activism as a member of the Plowshares movement and has been arrested frequently for his protest actions. He lives today in Manhattan where he continues to teach, write and work for peace.

The Actors' Gang, founded in 1982 by a group of renegade theater artists, has over 100 productions and more than 100 awards to its credit, and consistently wins acclaim for its daring interpretations of Shakespeare, Buchner, Brecht, Moliere, Aeschylus, Ibsen and Chekhov, while also developing bold new plays that address the world today through a prism of satire, popular culture, and raucous stagecraft. The Gang is currently touring nationally with Michael Gene Sullivan's adaptation of George Orwell's 1984, directed by the company's artistic director, Tim Robbins, and recently completed international dates in New Zealand, Australia, and Hong Kong. Other Actors' Gang productions that have toured to cities across the U.S include Tim Robbins' Embedded, Anne Nelson's The Guys, and Jessica Blank's and Erik Jensen's The Exonerated. The Actors' Gang actively reaches out to the community with its Free Summer-in-the-Park productions for families; Artist Residency in Local Schools program; by running lower, middle and high school after school programs with children from the community; by performing special matinees for local schools; and with accessibility performances for the hearing- and sight-impaired.

Performances of the Trial of the Catonsville Nine take place Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm, February 14 through March 21. Previews take place Thursday, February 5 through Friday, February 13 on the same schedule. A Talk Back with the cast and special guests will take place following every Sunday matinee performance except the preview. Tickets are $15.00 for previews and $25.00 for performances, except Opening Night (February 14), for which tickets are $50.00 and include a catered post-show reception with the actors and a free ticket to Make Love, Not War, a Valentine's Day rock show that follows the reception at 11 pm. Tickets to all Thursday evening performances are Pay-What-You-Can when purchased at the door.

The Actors' Gang is located in the Ivy Substation at 9070 Venice Blvd. (near the intersection of Culver and Venice Blvds.) in Culver City. Two hours free parking is available throughout downtown Culver City; the Ince Parking Lot (corner of Culver and Ince) is directly across the street from the theater. In addition, several restaurants (Italian, French, Thai, Japanese, and more) are only a few blocks' walk from The Actors' Gang and offer a variety of dining options before and after the theater. The Ivy Substation is air-conditioned and wheelchair accessible. For reservations and information, call The Actors' Gang Box Office at 310-838-GANG (310-838-4264) or go to www.theactorsgang.com.

 

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