As if on cue following the death of Arlen Specter, a public reading series launches Downtown with a new play about the killing of JFK.
The play is Noah’s Ark, by locally based Ginny Cunningham. It's inspired by James Douglass’ 2009 book JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters. (For what it’s worth, Oliver Stone is a fan.)
The free public reading at 7 p.m. tonight, at Pittsburgh Public Theater, begins a new series curated by lauded local playwright Tammy Ryan.
The series is sponsored by the Public. A short discussion will follow the reading.
Specter, you’ll recall, first made his name nationally by expounding the controversial “single-bullet theory” about JFK’s assasination.
Cunningham’s full-length play, according to a press release, “delves into unexplored and previously classified aspects” of the assassination."
Actors reading the play include Jack Erdie (as JFK), Thomas Fuchel, Richard Cavalucci, T. Scott Frank, John Gresh and Brandi Welle.
Ryan, the series curator, recently won the American Theatre Critics Association Francesca Primus Prize.