'Speak Truth to Power' Human Rights Play to Honor MLK Legacy Jan. 16 at Duke University

As part of Duke University's commemoration of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Duke Theater Studies and Manbites Dog Theater will stage a dramatic reading of the play "Speak Truth to Power: Voices From Beyond the Dark" on Monday, Jan. 16, in Reynolds Theater in the Bryan Center. The 7 p.m. event is free and open to the public.

In the play, eight voices give the testimonies of 42 contemporary human rights activists from around the world -- including Elie Wiesel, Vaclav Havel and Desmund Tutu -- while two characters representing repressive powers and apathetic onlookers dramatize their opposition. The play, by author and Duke professor Ariel Dorfman, is based on the book "Speak Truth to Power: Human Rights Defenders Who Are Changing Our World" by Kerry Kennedy Cuomo.

A group of celebrity actors, including Martin Sheen, Sean Penn and Woody Harrelson, performed the play Jan. 14, 2005, at the EbenezerBaptistChurch in Atlanta, to celebrate King's birthday and the 40th anniversary of his acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize. Since debuting in 2000, the play has been staged more than 100 times, in nine countries.

"The fact that this play was the centerpiece of the 40th anniversary celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Nobel Peace Prize, with his widow and children in attendance, means it was a way of declaring to the world that the human rights defenders of today are the Martin Luther Kings of tomorrow," Dorfman said. "All of the activists portrayed in this play/cantata have been inspired by the work of Dr. King and reveal how much work still needs to be done."

The performance at Duke is directed by theater studies professor Jeff Storer, artistic director and co-founder of Manbites Dog. A group of 11 students and local professional actors will read the parts of the activists' and opponents' voices.

Storer said he is "terrifically committed to making sure these stories get told with truth and the power that is contained in each of the testimonials." He said the races, genders and ages of the actors span those of the human rights activists; however, because the activists are not always played by actors of the same ethnicity, "eventually we cross race and gender and age in the telling of the story."

After the play, Dorfman and the Rev. Peter Storey, the Ruth W. and A. Morris Williams Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at DukeDivinitySchool, will lead a discussion.

Both Dorfman and Storey have personal experience with campaigns for human dignity. In 1973, Dorfman fled Chile, where he was working for President Salvador Allende when Augosto Pinochet came to power through a violent coup; since then, Dorfman has spoken out widely against cruelties in Chile and elsewhere. Storey served as chaplain to Nelson Mandela in South Africa's RobbenIsland prison in the 1960s and later, after years of working to end apartheid, helped select the nation's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The Duke performance was commissioned by the university's 2006 Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Committee, which is sponsoring events Jan. 13-22 under the theme "Call and Response: Listening, Learning and Living the Legacy."

Judith Ruderman, Duke's vice provost for academic affairs and administrative services and a member of the King celebration committee, said the play is a "dramatic statement about the individual's power to make positive change."

"It sends two strong messages," Ruderman said. "'We don't have to sit by and feel that we're just little people' and 'When you know of wrong, it's incumbent upon you to do right by making it right.'"

Other events for the 2006 King commemoration, also free and open to the public, include:

-- A talk by director Charles Stone III at Richard White Auditorium on Duke's East Campus at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 13. Stone directed the movies "Drumline" and "Mr. 3000," among others.

-- A service celebrating King's legacy at Duke Chapel at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15, featuring a speech by entertainer and activist Harry Belafonte. Belafonte was a close friend and ally of King's during the Civil Rights Movement.

-- A series of "Freedom School" discussions on contemporary social issues, led by Duke professors and students as well as invited speakers, from 10:45 a.m.-4:45 p.m. Monday, Jan. 16, in the Bryan University Center's Von Canon rooms, with a breakfast at 10 a.m. The discussions are inspired by the Freedom Schools organized during the Civil Rights Movement. Topics include the fallout from Hurricane Katrina; the intersection of race, religion and public policy; the concept of white privilege; the application of civil rights to gays and lesbians; and social change in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi.

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For details and an updated calendar of events, call (919) 684-8030 or visit the 2006 Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration website.