Geoffrey Cowan

A unique play anthology featuring five gripping docudramas originally commissioned by L. A. Theatre Works that each explore pivotal moments in 20th century U. S history. With ensemble casts and innovative staging potential these plays are perfect for theatre companies, schools and educational groups looking to stage familiar historical stories in new and original ways. Each play is accompanied by dramaturgical notes that help contextualize and analyze both the events themselves and the dramatic form in which they are presented. The scripts included are:The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial by Peter GoodchildThe Real Dr. Strangelove by Peter Goodchild RFK: The Journey to Justice by Murray Horwitz and Jonathan EstrinThe Chicago Conspiracy Trial by Peter GoodchildTop Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers by Geoffrey Cowan and Leroy Aarons (Winner of theCorporation for Public Broadcasting Best Live Entertainment Award, 1992)As well as five scripts this anthology includes a foreword by Professor Michael Hackett, professor of directing and theatre history at UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.

A unique play anthology featuring five gripping docudramas originally commissioned by L. A. Theatre Works that each explore pivotal moments in 20th century U. S history. With ensemble casts and innovative staging potential these plays are perfect for theatre companies, schools and educational groups looking to stage familiar historical stories in new and original ways. Each play is accompanied by dramaturgical notes that help contextualize and analyze both the events themselves and the dramatic form in which they are presented. The scripts included are: The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial by Peter Goodchild The Real Dr. Strangelove by Peter Goodchild RFK: The Journey to Justice by Murray Horwitz and Jonathan Estrin The Chicago Conspiracy Trial by Peter Goodchild Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers by Geoffrey Cowan and Leroy Aarons (Winner of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Best Live Entertainment Award, 1992) As well as five scripts this anthology includes a foreword by Professor Michael Hackett, professor of directing and theatre history at UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.

In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt came out of retirement to challenge William Howard Taft for the Republican nomination. TR seized on the campaign theme "Let the People Rule"--a cry echoed in today's elections--and through the course of his run helped create thirteen new primaries. Though he won most of the primaries, party bosses proved too powerful, and Roosevelt walked out of the convention to create his own Bull Moose Party--only to make the shocking political calculation to ban black delegates from his new coalition. In Let the People Rule, Geoffrey Cowan takes readers inside the dramatic campaign that changed American politics forever.

Let the People Rule tells the exhilarating story of the four-month campaign that changed American politics forever. In 1912 Theodore Roosevelt came out of retirement to challenge his close friend and handpicked successor, William Howard Taft, for the Republican Party nomination. To overcome the power of the incumbent, TR seized on the idea of presidential primaries, telling bosses everywhere to "Let the People Rule." The cheers and jeers of rowdy supporters and detractors echo from Geoffrey Cowan's pages as he explores TR's fight-to-the-finish battle to win popular support. After sweeping nine out of thirteen primaries, he felt entitled to the nomination. But the party bosses proved too powerful, leading Roosevelt to walk out of the convention and create a new political party of his own. Using a trove of newly discovered documents, Cowan takes readers inside the colorful, dramatic, and often mean-spirited campaign, describing the political machinations and intrigue and painting indelible portraits of its larger-than-life characters. But Cowan also exposes the more unsavory parts of TR's campaign: seamy backroom deals, bribes made in TR's name during the Republican Convention, and then the shocking political calculation that led TR to ban any black delegates from the Deep South from his new "Bull Moose Party." In this utterly compelling work, Cowan illuminates lessons of the past that have great resonance for American politics today.

From Simon & Schuster, See No Evil is Geoffrey Cowan's fascinating exploration of the backstage battle over sex and violence in the television medium. In See No Evil, Cowan offers a probing investigation into the history, impact, and politics of television censorship, examining network programming, and such controversial practices as the Family Hour.