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2011 Works in Progress |
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Pentagon Papers: Volume I |
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Dwight Eisnhower |
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Post-WW II and the Eisenhower Years / 1945 - 1960 |
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America’s involvement in Vietnam begins |
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Volume I of the Gravel edition of the Pentagon Papers details American involvement in Vietnam from the end of WW II through 1955.
This original production traces this involvement including the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, the settlement conference in Geneva, the partition of the Vietnam, and the relocation of nearly one million people. These events will be theatricalized with actors, historic images, and music.
Volume I begins with President Franklin Roosevelt’s desire to see the people of Vietnam gain independence curtailed by his death in 1945. The new President, Harry Truman, supported England’s desire to see colonies gain independence gradually, and he let the French return to power in their former possession once the Japanese surrendered.
Various Vietnamese nationalist groups resisted this return, and they initiated a war of independence. Despite claims of winning, the French eventually recognized that they could not achieve victory. They sought an accommodation with nationalist leaders, as long as they were not associated with Ho Chi Minh, an avowed Communist.
The United States became significantly involved in Vietnam at this time by giving financial and military support to the French as they realigned their relationship with the former colony. Concurrently, the USSR and the People’s Republic of China began their recognition and support of Ho Chi Minh’s forces.
The election of a Republican administration in 1952 intensified America’s involvement. Determined not to lose further ground to the Communists in Asia, the U.S. greatly increased its aid to the French, with some leaders urging an even more active role. The ongoing land war in Korea, however, discouraged most American decision makers from moving forces into Vietnam at this time, but the U.S. continued its steadily increasing involvement.
Note: The Vietnam study, later known as the Pentagon Papers, was commissioned by U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara to answer a profound question: how did America come to have more than a half-million servicemen in Southeast Asia. He wanted an answer while events were still fresh in the minds of participants. The source materials were drawn primarily from the Secretary’s files. It became a 4,000-page narrative with 3,000 pages of supporting documents written by a number of analysts. One of these analysts, Daniel Ellsberg, made copies of most of the pages. He provided one copy to Alaskan Senator Mike Gravel who entered the pages into the public record as part of his Senate Subcommittee in June, 1971. |
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Works in Progress is a program of the Cultural Services Division of the Torrance Community Services Department. This series is presented in association with El Camino College Community Education, Torrance CitiCABLE 3, Torrance Community Television, Torrance Historical Society & Museum, Torrance Public Library, University Art Gallery CSU Dominguez Hills, Vietnam Veterans of America - Chapter 53 |
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Cast |
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Pat Furey is member of the Torrance City Council and serves on a number of city committees. Prior to his election to council in 2008, he served the City of Torrance as a civil service commissioner and as a member of the Mayor's Blue Ribbon Committee on Ethics & Integrity. Pat is a long time board member of the Torrance Education Foundation, having served four terms as president. He also served for a number of years as president of the North Torrance Homeowners Association and as a member and chair of the Torrance Unified School District's Personnel Commission. Pat is employed by the County of Los Angeles as a Principal Deputy County Counsel in the Children's Services Division. Pat and his wife Terry have been married for 33 years and have two children and two grandchildren. |
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Emily Kuroda has performed in more than 25 shows/workshops at East West Players. Other theaters include the Kirk Douglas Theatre, South Coast Rep, Mark Taper Forum, New York’s Public Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Seattle Rep, Singapore Repertory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theater, Doolittle Theater, Huntington Theater (Boston), Los Angeles Theater Center, Zephyr Theater, LA Women’s Shakespeare Company, and the Los Angeles Shakespeare Festival. She is the recipient of five Dramalogue Awards, a Garland Award for outstanding performance, an Ovation award nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Play, Playwrights Arena Award and the EWP Award for Outstanding Contribution to LA Theater, and the Entertainment Today Best Actress Award for Winter People. Television credits include seven years as “Mrs. Kim” in Gilmore Girls, and as “Suho” in Under One Roof with Flavor Flav. Margaret Cho’s mother in Drop Dead Diva, The Medium, Grey’s Anatomy, Six Feet Under, King Of Queens and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Feature films include Aussie & Ted, Hotel For Dogs, The Sensi, Shop Girl, Minority Report, Stranger Inside, Two Days In The Valley, Dad, Broken Words, About Love (Emmy nominated), Worth Winning and the upcoming features Peep World, Red, and Justice Angel. |
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Diana Mann hails from Chicago where she studied Performing Arts at UNI many moons ago. Most recently she was seen as Sheree in the The Dixie Swim Club at Little Fish Theater, The Narrator in The Laramie Project at Torrance Theater Co., and Charlotte in Little Footsteps at Long Beach Playhouse. Other favorite roles include Steel Magnolias (M’Lynne), Out of Order (Pamela), To Forgive, Divine (Millie) at the Bellflower Theater; W;t (E.M. Ashford), London Suite (Sheryl Semple) at PV Players. It is Diana’s great privilege to be working with the brilliant and fascinating John Powers and his excellent Works in Progress. Enjoy this historic journey. |
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Paul Nowatka served two terms as a City Councilman. He performed in the Works in Progress productions The Examination of Mrs. Anne Hutchinson at the Court of Newton, The Army – McCarty Hearings, 1954 and The Watergate Tapes, 1972 – 73, Anita Hill / Clarence Thomas Hearings, and Trial of Lenny Bruce. |
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John Wong Graduated from a magnet school in downtown New York City, “High School of Art and Design”. Studied Mass Communications at Queens College, City University of New York. Served three years in the army during the Vietnam War era as a combat motion picture and still photographer. John has worked in children's programming in Washington, D.C. and at KCET Los Angeles. He has spent many years at Walt Disney Imagineering designing theme park projects in Florida, California, Tokyo, and Paris. He is currently semi retired and enjoying being a snow bird, living in the green mountains of central Vermont and getting away from the snow during the winter by staying under the California sun in San Diego. John has stage experience both as an actor and as a stage designer for community theater. He loves to travel and currently spends vacations in China. |
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Michael Yama has appeared in many television shows including Without a Trace, X-Files, and Alias. He was “Kimo” on General Hospital and “Kai” on the series Hotel. His feature film credits include Click, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. He has appeared in numerous commercials. His voice credits include GI Joe, Rocket Power, Spawn, and most recently the voice of the “Ancient One” in the animated version of Doctor Strange. Los Angeles theatre credits include Climbing Everest at the Colony Theatre, Gumsimao at the Playwrights’ Arena at LATC, The Nisei Widows Club at East West Players and Bronzeville at the Robey Theatre at LATC. |
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John Crowther has juggled multiple careers as artist, writer, director, and actor his entire life. John first appeared on Broadway in 1962 in Something About a Soldier starring Sal Mineo and was seen frequently in films and TV before turning to directing and screenwriting. His produced scripts include The Evil That Men Do starring Charles Bronson. In recent years, he appeared off-Broadway in the one-man play Einstein: A Stage Portrait and has toured the country as Frank Lloyd Wright in his one-man play Meet Mr. Wright. His paintings are in numerous collections in the U.S. and in Europe, and his work as a cartoonist has appeared in MAD Magazine. Away from the arts, John is passionately involved in coaching lacrosse at the youth and high school-level in Los Angeles. His website is www.jcrowtherart.com |
