The New York Times featured the latest tour of Top Secret: Battle for the Pentagon Papers, a play co-written by University Professor and USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy Director Geoffrey Cowan. 

Top Secret is playing in Beijing. Top Secret first toured China in late 2011. The current tour opened on May 23 in Hangzhou and arrived in Beijing on June 4 for a three-show run at the National Center for the Performing Arts, which, according to Wong, is the most prestigious venue of its kind in China. Wong describes the plot of the play as a portrayal in fictional terms of the legal fight by The Washington Post to publish the Pentagon Papers over objections from the Nixon administration. The play highlights a key moment in the American media’s fight against government censorship. Its initial run and revival both came as a surprise to Wong who did not expect to see a play of this nature performed in China where government censorship and propaganda is common. Wong interviewed the play’s producers Susan Albert Loewenberg, producer and director of L.A. Theatre Works, and Alison M. Friedman, founder of Ping Pong Productions and resident of Beijing.

He asked them questions about audience reception, the actors’ reactions to performing for Chinese audiences and the difficulties they faced during the first run of the play. Despite initial objections from Chinese officials, audiences are enthusiastic. Loewenberg informed Wong that they will be expecting 50 dignitaries to the performances including high ranking government and finance ministry officials. Read the full article here.