Feature: THE INVESTIGATION: A SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH IN TEN ACTS at The Bard's Town

Dru Pilmer, Abigail Bailey Maupin, David Hussey, Dathan Hooper, Jessica Wortham, Juergen Tossman, & Brian Hinds.

Artists Do What They Do Best In A Free Public Reading

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Photography by John O'Haver

In the wake of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's controversial testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, on August 19 Louisville joined the growing ranks of cities to host a live reading of the Mueller Report.

The Investigation: A Search for the Truth in Ten Acts by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan (All the Way, The Kentucky Cycle) was performed as a staged reading by a murder's row of actors from the Metro Louisville theatrical community. The script, adapted from Mueller's report, centers on whether Trump obstructed justice during the 2016 presidential campaign and uses the verbatim text of the report.

In an interview with the New York Times, Schenkkan explained, "The Mueller report is full of startling, funny, shocking, disturbing human behavior. You can't make this stuff up. Your jaw is on the ground." Indeed, there were several times that Monday's capacity crowd at The Bard's Town laughed out loud at the statements quoted from the report.

The Louisville reading took place at The Bard's Town Theatre and was spearheaded by actor/director Jon Huffman, who has worked with several local companies, most notably Kentucky Shakespeare, where this past summer he played the title role in King Lear. Additionally, the performance was introduced by Arts-Louisville.com Managing Editor Keith Waits and was preceded by commentary from Congressman Jon Yarmuth, (D-KY). The Congressman stated that "...this president has committed demonstrable impeachable offenses," beyond what is contained in the Mueller Report, and emphasized the importance of accountability through citizen action.

The cast included actors experienced with a variety of local companies:

Narrator -- Jessica Wortham (Actors Theatre of Louisville)
Mueller -- Brian Hinds (YPAS, Kentucky Shakespeare)
Trump -- Dru Pilmer ( Linklater Voice Coach)
Steven Bannon & Chris Christie -- Dan Bullington (Clarksville HS, Derby Dinner Playhouse)
Sarah Sanders -- Abigail Maupin (Kentucky Shakespeare)
Trump Jr. & Jared Kushner -- Will DeVary (Commonwealth Theatre Center, KY Shakes)
Hope Hicks -- Cathy Butler-Weathersby (Theatreworks of Southern Indiana)
Jeff Sessions -- Juergen Tossmann (Bunbury Theatre)
Rob Porter -- Julie Dingman Evans (Stage One Family Theatre)
Don McGahn -- David Hussey (Derby Dinner Playhouse)
Paul Manafort & James Comey -- Dathan Hooper (Kentucky Shakespeare)
Rudy Giuliani & Mike Flynn -- Mia Seitz (Kentucky Opera)
Michael Cohen -- Ben Evans (Stage One Family Theatre)
Felix Sater -- Tiffany Taylor (Louisville Repertory Company)
Jay Sekulow -- Annette Skaggs (Arts-Louisville.com)
AG Barr -- Jennifer Pennington (Commonwealth Theatre Center, KY Shakes, Theatre [502])
Reince Priebus -- Gregory Maupin (Kentucky Shakespeare)
K.T. McFarland -- Hannah Hoopingarner (Double H Productions)

Admission was free but donations were collected for The Bard's Town, which was provided as the venue at no charge, and Law Works, which distributes the script without the customary royalty or licensing fees.