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Harvard’s Secret Court
Unnatural Acts Opens At CSC
Tony Speciale
In the spring of 1920 a student’s suicide at Harvard University triggered a campus wide investigation by a group of administrators. Their goal was to identify, expose, and ultimately expel homosexual students.
This story remained a secret for about 80 years, with court documents and records buried in university archives. In 2002 a student journalist for The Harvard Crimson named Amit Paley came across a reference to the “Secret Court.” Paley went to the administration and after some initial resistance was given access to over 500 documents detailing this shadowy group’s persecution of homosexual students.
After learning of the controversy Tony Speciale saw the potential for a powerful and important story and dove into the records with his team of writers from the Plastic Theatre. The team spent countless hours combing through the court records, and learning as much as they could about the young men expelled for their orientation.
As the research went on, Speciale and the writers began to identify all of the witnesses and accused students. Then they pieced together a timeline of events and experiences. On top of this meticulous research and study a script was built with some improvisation, and Unnatural Acts was born. It is a story of social intolerance and fear that remains as important to society today as it was in the 1920’s.
The cast of Unnatural Acts includes Jess Burkle, Joe Curnutte, Frank De Julio and Roe Hartrampf. It is directed by Speciale, with set design by Walt Spangler and original music and sound design by Christian Frederickson.
Speciale is in his third season as associate artistic director with Classic Stage Company. The company is dedicated to relating stories of the past to contemporary audiences. It is currently presenting David Ives’ The School of Lies and earlier this season offered a sold-out production of Chekhov’s Three Sisters starring Maggie Gyllenhaal. Unnatural Acts will close out the 2010-2011 season.
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