We know that many of you did not get to see this powerful and timely play when we hosted a City-Wide Cafe Society last spring. Now is your chance! The University of Chicago Human Rights program hosts this free showing of the film and Bill Goodman, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), will present a post-performance update on the current status of Guantanamo and the detainees.
GUANTANAMO: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom tells the story of four actual detainees (three British citizens and one Iraqi, a 21-year legal resident of the United Kingdom) who spent over two years in isolation andin deplorable conditions at Guantánamo.The play weaves together personal accounts from letters and interviews, legal opinions, and the public record, putting a human face on the world’s headlines and examining the divisive line between maintaining national security and protecting human rights. The November 28 reading, hosted by Court Theatre, supported by the Franke Institute for the Humanities of the University of Chicago, and co-sponsored by the Public Square at the IHC, will give the detainees’ stories center stage.
GUANTANAMO: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom was first performed in London, where it received rave reviews. The play went on to run in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco where critics continued to praise the work. At the time of the play’s New York debut, Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote thatthe play “exerts an icy visceral charge” and is “deeply moving” in its portrayal of the situation at Guantánamo.
This event is free, but reservations are recommended and can be made on-line through the University of Chicago Human Rights Program (773-834-0957).