D.C. Theatre to Host 11-Hour ‘Marathon Reading
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The Arena Stage theatre in Washington, D.C., is set to host an 11-hour reading of the Mueller report to an audience of lawmakers and activists.
Up to 200 guests, including District Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and former Virginia Rep. Jim Moran, will attend what is described as a “nonpartisan 11-hour marathon reading of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Report.” The reading solely covers volume two of the Mueller report, which looks into whether President Donald Trump had obstructed justice.
“Why read the Mueller Report at Arena Stage? As a theater focused on American plays and American stories, the Mueller Report is a far-reaching and intricate American story about D.C. and the people in it,” said artistic director Molly Smith in a press release.
“This is our city and so many of these events happened here. It’s a community service to read the report with a multiplicity of voices from the world of the arts and politics and everyday citizens,” Smith continued. “Many people have only heard the report in bits and pieces — this gives them the opportunity to read aloud without comment, listen and make up their own minds. This reading is, in many ways, a democratic act.”
Those reading the report aloud include local Democratic lawmakers and activists, such as Ward 6 Councilman Charles Allen and activist Charlotte Clymer. Members of the public are also invited to participate.
“There is something really wonderful about reading aloud with a group of people, especially if that group is representative of our broader community,” said actress and activist Jjana Valentiner, the event’s organizer. “The Mueller Report can be quite dense and heavy at times, but there is real clarity when it is read aloud with many different voices.”
Similar readings of the Mueller report, which ultimately failed to find prosecutable evidence of wrongdoing against President Trump, recently took place in a group of theater companies across New York.
The readings, entitled “Filibustered and Unfiltered: America Reads the Mueller Report,” lasted 24 hours, with artistic director Jackson Gay claiming it presented an opportunity for local anti-Trump activists to “find their voice” and fulfill their “responsibility as American citizens.”