In recognition of World Press Freedom Day (May 3rd), PEN America is proud to partner with Artist Soapbox and June Guralnick/Creative Acts of Resistance to present a virtual live reading of an exciting recreation of a 1949 radio dramatization of George Orwell’s haunting novel, 1984. This reading is open to the public via Zoom.
Performed by distinguished actors from the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area (with sound design by Chandler “ARSENiK” Solomon), the reading will be followed by an in(cite)ful conversation led by prominent North Carolina author Joseph Bathanti, exploring artists speaking truth to power under authoritarian regimes.
The featured performers participating in the reading are (in alphabetical order) J Chachula, Thaddaeus Edwards, Mark Filiaci, David Henderson, Derrick Ivey, Tamara Kissane, Norah Myer, Ray Owen, Juliana Valente, and Banu Valladares.
“There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.” (1984)
