L.A. Theatre Works' TOP SECRET China Tour Goes Viral on Weibo; Now in Beijing
By: BWW News Desk Jun. 05, 2013
L.A. Theatre Works touring production of Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, now in Beijng for a three-show run at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, has gone viral on the Chinese microblogging site Weibo following sold-out performances in Hangzhou, Suzhou and Tianjin.Written by former USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism dean and Voice of America director Geoffrey Cowan, Top Secret is an inside look at The Washington Post's decision to publish a study labeled "top secret" that documented the history of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. The subsequent trial pitted the public's right to know against the government's need for secrecy, resulting in an historic Supreme Court case about freedom of the press."Thanks to tremendous audience response and wide coverage by the Chinese press, as well as online promotion by the US Embassy and all of the presenting theaters, the play literally has gone viral on Weibo," said to L.A. Theatre Works spokesperson Jason Xia."The play... presented us the American freedom and humors... All the pauses and breathes of the actors were great experience to me! The heated discussion pushed the play to the climaxes. The art of language and the portrait of the characters brought me to the America in the old days, to hear the voices of freedom," commented one blogger.
Pictured: GOSSIP GIRL's Margaret Colin stars as Washington Post publisher Katherine Graham in L.A. Theatre Works' TOP SECRET: THE BATTLE FOR THE PENTAGON PAPERS.
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