Dramatic Readings of Gov't Texts Reckon with Torture

ICUJP, NRCAT join in dramatic readings:

St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Studio City hosted a program of readings from actual government transcripts and documents to call attention to acts of torture and abuse carried out by the U.S. under the Bush administration. The readings of testimonies by torturers and the tortured were performed by well-known local actors, including David Selby, of Dark Shadows fame, and Susan Clark, who co-starred on Webster.

Others in the cast were Andre Sogliuzzo, Jane Edith Wilson, Ed Cunningham, Arlene Binder and Elizabeth Foldes Meiman who, along with her husband Henry Meiman, staged the presentation for St. Michael’s.

Excerpts of the testimonies, which you can witness in the video, are gripping and disturbing. I also interviewed the organizers and sponsors of the program, interfaith activists from our community.

The idea for the day’s event was conceived by playwright and author Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey, a St. Michael’s member, and Virginia Classick, after hearing about the program from the ACLU's Steve Rohde. All three are active members of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) and Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace (ICUJP).

Full story from June 28, with video, at Sherman Oaks Patch.