October 19, 2007

Pentagon Papers revisited: To publish or not to publish

In 1971, a top-secret Defense Department report on U.S. involvement in Vietnam made its way into The Washington Post newsroom. The editors had to decide whether to publish the information, something the Nixon administration clearly opposed.

At UC Davis more than 30 years later, this crucial incident in U.S. history is making news again in the form of two events at the Mondavi Center: L.A. Theater Works' presentation of Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, and a free public forum titled "The Pentagon Papers: Their Place in Politics and Law."

Forum@MC, featuring history professor Kathryn Olmsted and law professor Carlton Larson, is scheduled for Oct. 29. Jeffrey Callison, host of Insight on Sacramento's Capital Public Radio, is listed as the moderator.

The stage play, described as a potent examination of the legal issues surrounding the First Amendment and government power, is set for Oct. 30.

The New York Times was first to publish a story on the secret report that came to be known as the Pentagon Papers, on June 13, 1971. President Nixon saw the story, which included numerous revelations that were politically embarrassing to war supporters, and the government won a restraining order to stop the Times from continuing its series.

The Washington Post also had received a copy of the Pentagon Papers. The injunction against the Times did not apply to the Post, so its editors quickly debated whether to publish. The more they waited, the more they risked an injunction, too.

Top Secret plays out amid their deliberations at editor Ben Bradlee's home, and covers the legal ramifications that followed the editor's decision to publish the material. The government secured a broader injunction, so that it also applied to the Post, but by the end of June the Supreme Court lifted the order — in a decision that many people consider the court's most important ever on the First Amendment.

L.A. Theatre Works specializes in radio plays, presenting them on radio and online, and in live productions with costumes and minimal sets.

The cast for the Mondavi Center performance is scheduled to include such well-known stage and screen actors as Susan Sullivan, Emmy and Golden Globe nominee known to television audiences for her roles in Rich Man, Poor Man, and Falcon Crest, among other shows; Gregory Harrison, who has starred in more than 40 TV movies; John Heard, whose film credits include Big and Home Alone 2, and whose TV work includes The Sopranos; and John Vickery, who has appeared in TV's Crime Story and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

FORUM@MC

"The Pentagon Papers: Their Place in Politics and Law" — 5 p.m. Oct. 29, Studio Theatre, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. Free.

ON STAGE

L.A. Theatre Works: Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers —

8 p.m. Oct. 30, Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center. After

the performance, audience members are invited

to stay for a question-and-answer session with

the cast. Tickets: (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787,

or www.mondaviarts.org.