STRAIGHT TALK ARCHIVES

Season 23

Nov. 5, 2007

“The Case of Sacco & Vanzetti: Immigration Then & Now”
Adapted by Peter Sampieri & Chris Byrnes, directed by Peter Sampieri. Featuring Tony Estrella, Steve Kidd, Chris Byrnes & David Rabinow.

Testimonials, prison letters and song surrounding the infamous execution of Italian immigrants and alleged anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, accused of payroll robbery and murder in South Braintree, Mass. in May of 1920.Special guest: Scott Molloy, Professor of Labor Relations at the Charles T. Schmidt Jr. Labor Research Center, University of Rhode Island.

Season 22

April 16, 2007

“Walking the Via Dolorosa: Understanding the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict”
Via Dolorosa by David Hare, directed by William Cain, featuring Richard Donelly

Part travelogue, part tirade, part clarion call for understanding in the chaos of daily life in the Middle East, Via Dolorosa is a revelatory work of dramatic reportage from a giant of the contemporary theater.Special guests: Elliott Colla, Associate Professor of Comparative Literature at Brown University &Naomi Mandel, Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Rhode Island.

Feb. 19, 2007

“What is to be Done? The Moral Dilemma of Living in the First World”
The Fever by Wallace Shawn, directed by Peter Sampieri, featuring Tony Estrella

An anonymous narratorwakes up in a nameless third-world country with a terrible fever. There for a political execution, he tries but is unable to reconcile his privileged upbringing with his current surroundings. Special guest:David Estlund, professor of philosophy at Brown University.

Season 21

April 10, 2006

“Caught in the Middle: Fighting Terror through Art”
Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom by Victoria Brittain and Gillian Slovo, directed by Judith Swift, featuring Tony Estrella, Scott Winters, Steve Kidd, (TK)

Based on the spoken and written testimony of Guantanamo detainees, family members, lawyers and public officials, a look at the damage done to Western democratic values during the "war on terror”. Special guest:Ugandan playwright, director and actor Charles Mulekwa.

Feb. 13, 2006

“The Monkey Trial Part Two: Education under Fire”
Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, directed by Fred Sullivan, Jr., featuring Trinity Rep actors William Damkoehler and Fred Sullivan, Jr., with Gamm actors Sam Babbitt, Normand Beauregard, Chris Byrnes, Richard Donelly, Tony Estrella, David Howard, Jeanine Kane, Steve Kidd, Casey Seymour Kim, Mark McClure, Jim O’Brien and Wendy Overly.

Based on the famous Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925, a scorching examination of the battle between fact and fiction, science and superstition. Special guest: Dr. Albert Kausch, Visiting Professor, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Rhode Island.