Cowan’s ‘Top Secret’ debuts at Beijing’s National Center for the Performing Arts

At the invitation of Beijng's National Centre for the Performing Arts and sponsored in part by the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and the U.S. Department of State, L.A. Theatre Works (LATW) returns to China in June, 2013 with CCLP director Geoffrey Cowan's riveting historical drama, Top Secret: The Battle for The Pentagon Papers. LATW toured China with Top Secret in 2011, playing to sold out houses of Chinese professionals and students. CCLP has produced a series of educational conversations around these performances which can be found online at topsecretplay.org. L.A. Theatre Works will be the first American theater company to……

Cowan Discusses Free Speech and National Security in FY Chang Lecture

On December 4, 2011, Geoffrey Cowan, director of the CCLP, delivered the prestigious F.Y. Chang Lecture at the US-China Education Trust at Peking University in Bejing, China. The event came at the end of the China tour of Cowan's play Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, which played in theaters in Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Beijing. Cowan lectured on the themes of his play Top Secret in the speech, which was called "National Security vs. Free Speech: An American Case Study." A copy of the speech can be downloaded below. Cowan is the latest in a line of distinguished……

Cowan Top Secret Play to air on KPCC and NPR

Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers written by CCLP Director Geoffrey Cowan aired air on Saturday, July 2 on 89.3 KPCC. Top Secret can also be heard on the LA Theatre Works wesbite, under the "Radio Theatre Series" page. It will also be airing nationally on the NPR stations listed on that page. The broadcast includes excerpts of the panel discussions following the shows in New York hosted by the CCLP, as well as some audio from the 2008 discussions with John Dean and Jane Harman…….

‘Top Secret’ play and discussion series wraps in New York City

Produced by LA Theatre Works in partnership with New York Theatre Workshop and Affinity Collaborative Theatre, Leory Aarons and Geoffrey Cowan's Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, closed with rave reviews and an impressive model for using theater to explore and discuss the role of media in a democracy. The USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy organized conversations focused on the tension between issues of national security and a free press that included journalists, scholars, jurists, and public policy leaders from partner organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Columbia Journalism Review, New York University, and others…….

‘Top Secret’ play and discussion series in New York City wrap with a bright future

Produced by LA Theatre Works in partnership with New York Theatre Workshop and Affinity Collaborative Theatre, Leroy Aarons and Geoffrey Cowan's Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers closed with rave reviews and an impressive model for using theater to explore and discuss the role of media in a democracy. The USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy organized conversations focused on the tension between issues of national security and a free press that included journalists, scholars, jurists, and public policy leaders from partner organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Columbia Journalism Review, New York University, and more…….

Pentagon Papers: The Glory Days of Journalism

The Atlantic reviewed the play Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, by CCLP Director Geoffrey Cowan. "Ultimately, the contents of the Pentagon Papers mattered less to events than the great confrontation over whether the press could override government's objections to their release," the article stated. "So if you get a chance to see Top Secret or watch the panel on C-SPAN, here's what to remember: important decisions being made today by proprietors and journalists will be judged by history. Let's hope they meet the test."……

‘Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers’

TheatreMania writes: "Geoffrey Cowan and Leroy Aarons crackling drama about that pivotal moment in history, Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, is now being presented at the New York Theatre Workshop in a brilliantly acted production under John Rubenstein's tight direction. Not only is it a great story, it's also great theater."……

Scoop up this one about the Pentagon Papers

The New York Post writes: "Scoop up this one about the Pentagon Papers. … Playwrights Geoffrey Cowan and Leroy Aarons have done an excellent job of dramatizing the story of how the newspaper battled the Nixon administration in court for the right to print their story."……

Top Secret lifts veil on Pentagon Papers fight

The Associated Press writes, "This love affair with journalistic revelations in the face of great odds is artfully rekindled in 'Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers,' an engaging, well-acted, historical drama by Geoffrey Cowan and Leroy Aarons. With cloak-and-dagger intrigue, government suppression, courtroom drama and an unusual theatrical format, the play will please theater enthusiasts and history buffs alike. … The 'write what you know' maxim couldn't be more apropos in this case, evidenced by Cowan and Aarons' clear presentation of the facts and splendidly nuanced dialogue, which consistently rings true."……