Download RFK: The Journey to Justice

RFK: The Journey to Justice
by Murray Horwitz & Jonathan Estrin
Cast:
Michael
Leydon
Campbell
as Burke
Marshall
Philip
Casnoff
as John F.
Kennedy
Henry
Clarke
as Robert F.
Kennedy
Kyle
ColeriderKrugh
as Byron White
Kevin
Daniels
as Martin
Luther King Jr.
Ross
Hellwig
as Harris
Wofford
Thomas
Vincent Kelly
as John
Seigenthaler
Sheilynn
Wactor
as Coretta
Scott King
John
Wesley
as Louis Martin
Directed by: John Rubinstein Executive Producer: Susan Albert Loewenberg
Educational Resources by Michael Aspinwall with contributions from Vicki Pearlson and Elizabeth Bennett
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Thematic Overview and Cross-Curricular Opportunities
Each of the works at LATW has theatrical as well as literary merit. However, most teachers will
not be able to teach the play in its entirety. In this section of the study guide, we want to highlight
universal themes in the play, illustrate how the play dramatizes and deals with the themes, and
offer ways to associate those themes into various curriculums.
Theme
“RFK: The Feeling of Justice” is as rich in theme as it is in history. The teacher’s guide highlights
some of the themes and events that drive the play. These themes include:
The power of persuasive speaking
The political process: gaining the Black American vote
Civil Rights
Historical Time Period and Setting
One of the major ways LATW plays can be translated to the classroom is through association of
time period. “RFK: The Feeling of Justice” is set in the American 60’s. The dialogue of the play is
a direct reflection of the time period and the vernacular of American politicians of that time.
The Docudrama
Another fascinating element of “RFK: The Feeling of Justice” is its genre. Different from a
traditional play, a docudrama brings an actual historic event to life on stage. This form of
reenactment literally breathes life into history and is made more powerful by its commitment to
the original moment. From a teaching perspective, the docudrama allows students to not only
appreciate the live performance, but also to witness a moment in history.
Current Connections
The issues raised in “RFK: The Feeling of Justice” resonate today for many reasons. It is a
fascinating piece of real drama set in the 1960’s when America was changing. A world war had
ended, social traditions were being challenged, rock and roll played in the background, and a
great wave of revivalism swept the country.
Clearly the civil rights movement did not begin or end with Robert Kennedy or Dr. Martin King;
in fact, for different groups the struggle for equal rights under the law continues today.
Classroom
Activities &
Lesson Ideas
The Power of Persuasive Speaking
Objective:
After this activity, students will be able to think critically about persuasive oration,
identify and label qualities of a speech that appeal to listeners, and write and deliver a persuasive
speech to their classmates.
Motivation:
Introduce or review the Aristotelian principles of persuasion: Ethos, Pathos,
and Logos. When students have a grasp of these three terms, pass out copies of one of RFK’s
speeches (one of his most famous speeches is included in this teachers’ guide, but others are
available online). Ask students the following questions:
1. Can you find examples of ethos in this speech? What about these statements appeals to the
moral or ethical standards of the audience?
2. Can you find examples of pathos in this speech? What about these statements appeals to the
audience’s emotions?
3. Can you find examples of logos in this speech? What about these statements appeals to the
audience’s logic?
Activity:
Divide students into groups of four. Each group of students will receive a picture of
a basic food (i.e.: apples, oranges, etc). Students should keep their food a secret from the other
groups. The facilitator then tells students that each group has a different picture and their job is
to write a 30-second speech in which they convince the rest of the class that their food is the best
choice. The only catch is they cannot at any point disclose what food they have to the class. In
other words, they cannot describe, name or give any specific information about their food. Instead,
they have to use other principles of persuasion to convince their audience to buy their food.
Evaluation:
Students deliver their speeches to the class. After hearing all of the speeches,
audience members will have to choose which group’s food they would like to buy. Individuals can
only choose one food and they cannot choose their own food. Once the class has voted (either
by a show of hands or secret ballot), the facilitator should tally the votes and discover which group
received the most votes. After announcing the winner, the facilitator can conduct a whole class
discussion about the elements of the speeches given and why they were effective. Students can
disclose their food items and talk about their writing process.
Materials / Time:
• 1 – 2 class periods (depending on length of discussion or work time allotted).
• Pictures of Food
The Political Process: Winning a Minority Vote
Objective: Students will be able to participate in a mock election inside the classroom, identify
and understand the power of a minority group’s vote, and have a more clear understanding of
political positioning with regard to minority groups and the election process.
Motivation: Review with students the conversation that takes place at the beginning of “RFK:
The Feeling of Justice” between John and Robert Kennedy. Ask students the following questions:
1. Why is JFK upset about not having his picture taken with Jackie Robinson?
2. What does he want?
3. Do you think politicians think about votes in this way often?
4. How does that make you feel about them?
5. If you were to run for president, would you do the same thing?
Activity: Ask the class to elect two students who will run against each other for class
president. Explain to them that the class president will be able to make new classroom rules for
one week. Once two students are chosen, bring the students up in front of the class, and explain
to them that they will have to earn votes from their classmates to be elected class president. The
candidates will be sent out of the room, then one at a time they will be asked to come into the room
and approach one student, introduce themselves, and spend 30 seconds trying to talk with this one
individual student to earn their vote. After 30 seconds, the candidate will leave the room again,
and the other candidate will come in and repeat the process.
Before the first round for the candidates, the facilitator will give each student stickers, which
represent their votes. Whenever a candidate approaches a student, the student can chose to
endorse the candidate. If a student decides to endorse a candidate, they can put their sticker(s)
on the board next to that candidate’s name. Some of the students will receive one sticker
representing one vote. Other students will receive several stickers; these students will represent
minority groups. After one round of candidates approaching students, the facilitator should then
disclose to both candidates that some students have one vote and other students have several
votes. Before the third round, candidates have the opportunity to elect a running mate. This
means that each candidate may select one student from the class who can advise them on who
they should talk to, and what they should say. Students should play between three and five
rounds.
Evaluation: Tally the results of the election.
Discuss with students how and why the election
turned out the way it did. Discuss with candidates what challenges they faced, and how effective it
was to have running mate.
Materials / Time:
• 1 class period (depending on length of discussion).
• Stickers for individual students
Civil Rights
Objective: After this activity, students will have personal experience of civil rights issues on a
small scale. They will be able to define and discuss civil rights as they pertain to different groups
throughout history and as they pertain to contemporary issues.
Motivation:
As students walk into class, the facilitator should have a portion of the classroom
desks turned to face the back of the room. As students file into class, the facilitator should instruct
students with a certain characteristic to occupy only the desks facing away from the front of the
class. For example, all students who wear glasses or have blue eyes will sit in the reversed desks.
Activity: Once students have been segregated, the facilitator should announce a pop quiz
on a current topic the class is covering. The facilitator should administer the questions orally and
intentionally mistreat the students who are facing away from the front of the room. The facilitator
might put the answers to the quiz questions on the board so that only the students in the front can
see them, or give a piece of candy to each student who gets an answer correct, but refuse to give
candy to students who are facing the back of the room. Over the course of the unjust behavior,
students facing the back of the room will begin to react to their situation. The facilitator should
continue the unjust treatment to elicit this response.
Evaluation: After a period of time, students should reset the classroom and discuss the
following questions:
How did you feel during that quiz?
Did you think it was fair?
What made it unfair?
Did it make you more or less likely to pay attention and participate?
Do you feel like you learned something?
What are civil rights?
Divide the class into small groups and have each group brainstorm a list of what they feel their civil
rights are. Then ask them to brainstorm a list of what they feel are their civil rights. Share out their
ideas about their civil rights with the entire class. With the entire class, start a discussion about
different groups that have been or are currently being denied these civil rights.
Materials / Time:
• 1 class period (depending on length of discussion or work time allotted).
Program Notes
Following Robert F. Kennedy’s Path to Justice
In the spring of 1963, U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, concerned about rising racial
tensions in the North and South, and looking for fresh ideas on how to cope with civil rights
problems, convened two meetings with African-American writer James Baldwin. Baldwin
had been sharply critical of President John F. Kennedy for not being more forceful about the
civil rights struggle gripping the United States. At the conclusion of the first meeting (held at
Kennedy’s home in Virginia), Kennedy asked Baldwin to put together some of his “best people
in New York” to “talk this whole thing over.” The group that met with Kennedy at his New York
City apartment included Baldwin and his actor brother David, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright
Lorraine Hansberry, singers Harry Belafonte and Lena Horne, psychologist Dr. Kenneth B.
Clark, consul to the Ghandi Society Clarence B. Jones, and Freedom Rider Jerome Smith.
The result was unexpected for both sides. Kennedy – publicly tight-lipped about the meeting –
expressed privately his shock that his brother’s administration wasn’t lauded by blacks for its
efforts, who told him that if this is the best he could do, then the best was not enough. Kennedy
was humiliated by the group’s desperate laughter and surprised by so much anger. “We were a
little shocked by the extent of his naïveté,” James Baldwin explained afterwards. Baldwin noted
that he and his friends left the meeting convinced that Kennedy didn’t understand the full extent
of the growing racial struggles in the North.
From this footnote to history comes the play that you will watch tonight. L.A. Theatre Works
Producing Director Susan Loewenberg remembers hearing about the Baldwin-Kennedy
meeting, whose cast of characters sounded like it could have been dreamed up by a Hollywood
producer posing a “what if” scenario. Loewenberg wondered about what happened within the
walls of the Kennedy apartment. She also wondered about the dramatic possibilities to be
found in the story of “Bobby” Kennedy, the scrawny seventh child of Joseph P. Kennedy and
Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, who grew up to be a fierce football end, staunch protector of his
adored older brother John, and a combative criminal justice prosecutor, Attorney General, New
York State Senator, and presidential candidate. The possibility of exploring the co-existing
dualities of RFK’s persona – the Attorney General who ordered the wire-tapping of Martin
Luther King Jr.’s phones alongside the grim-faced, much-moved visitor who talked to children
on visits to homes of the Appalachian poor– was too good to pass up.
The role of hero of the civil rights movement is not one that Robert Kennedy intended to
take on. His initial ambivalence -- he and his brother courted black voters in 1960 as a way
of helping to shore up JFK’s presidential election bid – has been largely forgotten over time
and in light of his later achievements. But the ensuing eight years -- chronicled in our play
-- contained a series of incidents, growing relationships, and social changes that put RFK at
the forefront of the fight for civil rights. He was a man with a strong sense of right and wrong,
both morally and legally. Deeply moved by the injustices he saw through the multiple arrests of
Martin Luther King on trumped-up charges, the humiliations suffered by black students trying
to get an education, and the lack of employment and business opportunities for blacks, RFK’s
strides towards achieving equality began with legislative measures, eventually expanding
his concerns beyond Black-White issues to fundamental issues such as worker’s rights and
poverty – issues that went beyond race.
It’s strangely appropriate that Loewenberg located writers for the RFK play as the 40th anniversary
of RFK’s shocking assassination approached, through a chance meeting at a screening of “RFK
Remembered,” the film commissioned by the Kennedy family after RFK’s death and shown at the
1968 Democratic National Convention. Loewenberg connected with an old friend, actor/writer/
director Murray Horwitz and they discussed the project. Horwitz – who had been a supporter
of Eugene McCarthy in the 1968 campaign – recalls the continuing devotion and excitement
expressed by anyone who worked with RFK. In short time, Horwitz and writing partner/TV producer
and writer Jonathan Estrin were engulfed in reading RFK’s eloquent speeches, numerous Kennedy
biographies, period newspaper articles and editorials, and transcripts of Senate hearings. In the
RFK files at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston copies of telegrams, drafts of
campaign flyers and speeches, hate mail letters, and itineraries from RFK’s many fact-finding tours
were found. Robert Drew’s 1963 documentary “Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment,” which
follows RFK and Governor George Wallace through the days leading up to the integration of the
University of Alabama, depicts the atmosphere of the Attorney General’s office, the tension of the
time and situation, and gave the writers a first-hand view of how the Kennedy brothers interacted
with each other.
Perhaps more valuable than the historical records are the personal accounts of RFK’s humour,
hard work, and faith in justice. A number of RFK’s confidantes and staff gave interviews to
Horwitz and Estrin – interviews that provided enormously helpful character details and went
beyond the historical record of the personal journey of RFK. Journalist John Seigenthaler – RFK’s
administrative aide whose Southern drawl and humour comes across in news clips and accounts
of the era – first met Kennedy in 1957 and remained close with him to the end – despite having
tried to convince his friend not to run for president. Seigenthaler’s insight into the solitary, internal
changes undergone by RFK after the President’s assassination helped guide the writers as they
explored RFK’s emergence from his brother’s shadow. Frank Mankiewicz – who worked as RFK’s
press secretary during his years in the Senate and later went on to become CEO of NPR – told the
writers exactly what happened on a horrible night in April 1968 when RFK faced an urban crowd
in Indianapolis that had not yet heard that Martin Luther King Jr. had been shot and killed. Also
on board to provide comments and relevant historical material was presidential biographer and
columnist Richard Reeves. These and many other firsthand, eyewitness accounts helped Horwitz
and Estrin dramatize the complexity of RFK’s personality and his struggle for civil rights and other
causes.
The play you’ll see tonight is the result of the extensive research and exploration described above.
But this is not a time piece depicting frozen moments. Kennedy’s achievements – at the time so
controversial and ground-breaking – have become part of the fabric of American life. But had
Kennedy not taken a gutsy, hard-nosed view towards legislative innovations, and later a heartfelt
approach to the construction of social and economic development programs, many Americans
wouldn’t have enjoyed the rights and prosperity of the last 40 years. As we enter the age of Barack
Obama, it’s well worth looking back at the complexities of one of the men who indirectly made it
possible for Obama to sit where he does now. And to contemplate the possibilities of what else
might have been, had RFK been President himself.
~ Elizabeth Bennett, Dramaturg and Researcher
Character Breakdown
John F. Kennedy: Served as Congressman from Massachusetts 1947-53; Senator from
Massachusetts 1953-60; President of the United States 1960-63; assassinated in 1963.
Robert F. Kennedy: John F. Kennedy’s younger brother and campaign manager during JFK’s 1960
Presidential campaign. Served the United States government as United States Attorney General
1961-64; United States Senator from New York 1965-68; assassinated in June, 1968.
Eleanor Roosevelt: Former First Lady; former delegate to the United Nations; newspaper
columnist; early civil rights advocate.
Harry Belafonte: Singer and actor. Board member of Southern Christian Leadership Conference
(SCLC).
Harris Wofford: Served from 1954-58 as an attorney for the United States Commission on Civil
Rights, an experience that led him to become an early supporter of the civil rights movement and
a friend of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Served as Civil rights advisor to 1960 Kennedy presidential
campaign; Special Assistant to the President for Civil Rights, 1961-62; associate director of the
Peace Corps, 1962-65; U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, 1991-95; introduced Presidential candidate
Barack Obama when he gave his famous “A More Perfect Union” speech on race in 2008.
Martin Luther King, Jr: Baptist minister and civil rights activist; President, Southern Christian
Leadership Conference; Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 1964; assassinated in April, 1968.
Byron “Whizzer” White: Served as Deputy U.S. Attorney General 1961-62; appointed to U.S.
Supreme Court 1962 and remained on the bench until 1993.
Louis Martin: Mid-Western journalist and newspaper owner. Member of JFK’s 1960 campaign
staff; advisor to Kennedys through his post with the Democratic National Committee, and later to
President Lyndon Johnson; special assistant to President Jimmy Carter.
Coretta King: Wife of Martin Luther King Jr. Singer; early civil rights activist; maintained her own
activism and her husband’s legacy, founding the King Center in Atlanta and supporting women’s and
gay rights.
S. Ernest Vandiver (Governor Vandiver): Democratic Governor of Georgia 1959-1963,
segregationist but early Kennedy supporter.
Sergeant Shriver: Married to Kennedy sister Eunice, he campaigned for JFK during the 1960
presidential campaign and then became the First Director of the Peace Corps 1961-64. Vice
presidential candidate on the McGovern ticket in 1972.
John Seigenthaler: Journalist; Administrative Assistant to RFK while Attorney General; RFK
campaign aide and confidant; founding editorial director of USA Today 1982-91; mentor to Al Gore;
continues to speak and write as founder of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University.
Martin Luther King, Sr. (Daddy King): Baptist minister and early civil rights leader; pastor of the
Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta 1948-75.
Douglas Edwards: First CBS television evening news anchor (1948-62) and was
succeeded by Walter Cronkite; CBS radio correspondent and anchor 1942-88.
Senator Kenneth Keating: Republican Senator from New York 1959-65,
defeated by Robert F. Kennedy; U.S.
Senator James O. Eastland: Democratic Senator from Mississippi 1943-79. Powerful
Senate leader who supported the Kennedy brothers but was resistant to change; best
known for his support of White Supremacy and for his opposition of the civil rights
movement.
Burke Marshall: Lawyer; Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division 1961-64 who
was driven to increase African-American voter registration; Vice President & General
Counsel, IBM Corporation 1965-69.
Governor John M. Patterson: Democratic Governor of Alabama 1959-63. Despite being
an active supporter of JFK’s presidential candidacy, Patterson was a segregationist who
banned the NAACP from operating in Alabama and enjoyed support from the Ku Klux Klan.
Diane Nash: Activist and leader of the Nashville sit-ins. A founder of the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC); a leader of the Freedom Rides; major participant in
SCLC, splitting from it in 1965.
Wyatt Walker: A pastor and activist who served as chief of staff for Martin Luther King,
Jr. Board member of SCLC; one of the founders and executive director of the Congress
of Racial Equality (CORE); continued his activism as Senior Pastor of the Canaan Baptist
Church in Harlem from 1967 until his retirement in 2004.
Charles Sherrod: An activist and one of the founders of SNCC. Director of the Southwest
Georgia Project for Community Education, 1961-87.
Earl Long: Three-time Democratic governor of Louisiana who called for full voter
participation from African Americans in his state.
J. Edgar Hoover: Notorious Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who, for nearly
50 years, launched campaigns against suspected subversives via means such as spying
and harassment.
Governor Ross Barnett: Trial lawyer and Democratic Governor of Mississippi 1960-64. A
staunch Segregationist who fought against racial integration.
Nicholas Katzenbach: Assistant U.S. Attorney General in Office of Legal Counsel at
Department of Justice from 1961 to 1962 who then served as Deputy U.S. Attorney General
1962-64. An active participant against Governor Wallace at University of Alabama and an
architect of the Warren Commission.
Jerome Smith: CORE activist who participated in the Freedom Rides. Invited by James
Baldwin to speak with RFK as part of coalition of African-American activists.
George Wallace: Three-time Governor of Alabama (1962-66, 1970-78, 1982-86) who
claimed various party affiliations. Well-known for a line from his 1963 inauguration speech in
which he called for “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”
James Farmer: Civil rights activist and leader who initiated the 1961 Freedom Ride that
eventually led to desegregation of interstate busing; a founder and director of CORE
(Congress of Racial Equality).
Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ): Former Representative and Senator from Texas; Vice
President of the U.S. 1961- 63 who became President upon the assassination of JFK in 1963
and won election in 1964. Oversaw the designing of the “Great Society” legislation focusing on
civil rights, public broadcasting, health care, education reforms, environmental protection, and
poverty; also responsible for escalating American troop involvement in the Vietnam War.
Charles Evers: Civil rights activist and older brother of Medgar Evers who became the leader of
the Mississippi branch of the NAACP after his brother’s death. First African-American mayor of a
racially mixed southern city (Fayette, MS).
Edward M. (Teddy) Kennedy: Democratic Senator from Massachusetts from 1963 until his
death in 2009. Known for his oratory skills and his tireless campaigns for economic and social
justice, emphasizing immigration reform, health care coverage and scientific research, civil and
rights.
Nelson Rockefeller: Republican Governor of New York 1959-73 where his primary concerns
were education, environmental protection, transportation, housing, welfare, medical aid, civil
rights, and the arts; Vice-President of the United States 1974-77 under Gerald Ford.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower: Five-star General in the U.S. Army. As President of the United
States 1953-61, he declared racial discrimination a national security issue.
Peter Edelman: Lawyer and policy maker who was the Legislative Assistant to Sen. Robert
Kennedy 1964-68 and who accompanied RFK on his fact-finding missions. Currently serves as
Associate Dean at the Georgetown University Law Center. Married to Marian Wright Edelman,
president and founder of the Children’s Defense Fund.
Senator George Murphy: Former movie actor; Republican Senator from California 1965-71.
Satirized for racist remarks about Mexican farm workers.
Grace G. Olivarez: Activist focused on poverty and labor issues associated with Mexican
Americans, and who worked for the U.S. Civil Rights Commission doing field surveys of the
problems of Mexican Americans.
Dolores Huerta: activist and organizer; co-founder of the United Farm Workers.
Cesar Chavez: Activist and civil rights leader who co-founded the National Farm Workers
Association, which became the United Farm Workers. In 1965, Chavez led the historic march of
grape pickers to the California state capitol as an action in the move to seek higher wages.
Dr. Robert Coles: Child psychiatrist, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning series of books The
Children of Crisis.
Dr. Raymond Wheeler: North Carolina physician; expert on nutrition and health problems of
poor people in the South.
Frank Mankiewicz: Lawyer and journalist; press secretary to Sen. Robert Kennedy.
Earl Graves: Publisher; founder of Black Enterprise magazine; administrative assistant to
Sen. Robert Kennedy.
Cast Biographies
MICHAEL LEYDON CAMPBELL (Burke Marshall, others) A native of Boston, Michael’s New York theatre credits
include: Liz Tuccillo’s Fair Fight and Joe Fearless. Television credits include: “House,” “Law & Order,” “NYPD Blue” and
“The West Wing.” Film credits include: Bob Funk, This Is Not A Film, Knots, Ash Wednesday and Sidewalks of New York.
Michael currently resides in both Los Angeles and New York.
PHILIP CASNOFF (JFK, others) On Broadway Phil played ‘Billy Flynn’ opposite Bebe Neuwirth. He also starred as
‘Blackthorn’ in the musical version of SHOGUN, played ‘Freddy’ in CHESS (Theater World Award, Drama Desk Nom)
and he also starred opposite his wife, ( Roxanne Hart ) in Shaw’s DEVIL’S DISCIPLE (Circle in the Square). At the
NYSF he played the lead in Todd Rundgren’s UP AGAINST IT (drama desk nom), and was in residence with the Dodgers
theater company at BAM and the NYSF. He has performed leading roles in classical and contemporary plays and musicals
at Yale, Longwharf, & Arena Stage and ACT. On television he was a regular cast member on “Strong Medicine” where
he also directed several episodes, as well as two episodes of “Monk.” He was ‘Stanislavsky’ on HBO’s “Oz,” ‘Vitelli’ in
“Under Suspicion,” and has played leading roles in several miniseries including “North and South,” and the title role in
“Sinatra” (Golden Globe nom). Most recently he could be seen as ‘Clive Ambrose’ on the Joss Whedon series “Dollhouse.”
HENRY CLARKE (RFK)– Stage credits include No Man’s Land (A.R.T.), Macbeth, Henry V, A Midsummer
Night’s Dream, Richard III, Summer, Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare & Co.), Hamlet (Icarus
NYC), The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told (SpeakEasy Stage), The Heidi Chronicles (New Century
Theater), House of Gold (PlayPenn), Bach at Leipzig (Odyssey Theatre). On TV, Henry has appeared in “Chuck”
and “Brush Up Your Shakespeare; an Evening at Pops”. He has been in several feature films, including Senses of Place and
Undertakings (in production). He holds an MFA in playwriting from Smith College, and an MFA in acting from the ART
institute at Harvard/MXAT.
KYLE COLERIDER-KRUGH (Byron White, others) is smiling because he’s back on the road with LATW. His previous
work for the company includes THE GREAT TENNESEE MONKEY TRIAL, BROADWAY BOUND and WAR OF
THE WORLDS/THE LOST WORLD as well as numerous collaborations with producer Susan Loewenberg and Chicago
Theatres on the Air. He’s a company member of the critically acclaimed Theatre Tribe in Los Angeles where audiences
have enjoyed him in The Violet Hour, Book Of DAYS and Recent Tragic Events. Born and raised in Ohio where he
graduated from Kent State with his BA in acting and directing, he worked in Cleveland at Great Lakes Theatre Festival,
Seaworld Ohio, Cain Park, The Cleveland Playhouse, and five seasons with the Fairmount Theatre of the Deaf. Kyle and
his wife, Tracy, moved to Chicago where their daughter Glenna was born and he appeared in Richard II, Sin (World
Premiere) and Arcadia, (Goodman Theatre), Othello, Cloud Nine, The Triumph of Love, The Mystery
Cycle: Creation & Passion, (Court Theatre), Anyone Can Whistle, (Pegasus Players), Shear Madness,
(Blackstone Theatre), Othello, (Shakespeare Repertory) As You Like It, (Oak Park Festival), and two and half years
of touring with THE BEST OF SECOND CITY. Additionally, he performed in Below The Belt (Alliance Theatre,
Atlanta), Open Window (Pasadena Playhouse), and Take Me Out (Geffen Playhouse) and ART (Laguna Beach
Playhouse) His film and television credits include: Primal Fear, Secretary, ”Numb3rs,” “Without A Trace,” “ER,” “Sister
Sister,” “The Pretender,” “Grace Under Fire,” “Third Rock From the Sun,” “Early Edition,” “Seinfeld” and “Medium.”
KEVIN DANIELS (MLK) was last seen at L.A. Theatre Works in the recording of Betrayed, directed by Pippin Parker.
Other LATW credits include roles in BECKET, ON THE WATERFRONT, and THE LION IN WINTER. Most recently
Kevin played the role of ‘Milton’ in Michael Sargent’s dark comedy BLACK LEATHER, directed by Chris Covics. Other
favorite projects include 9 CIRCLES, by Bill Cain (South Coast Rep) FLAG DAY, by Lee Blessing (Ojai Playwrights
Conference) COMPROMISE, by Israel Horovitz (Gloucester Stage Company) and TWELFTH NIGHT directed by
Nicholas Hytner (Lincoln Center) Film and Television credits include: “Law and Order,” “Brothers and Sisters,” “Frasier,”
“Smallville,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “JAG,” “Charmed,” “Third Watch,” “Deadline,” “100 Questions for Charlotte
Payne,” And Then Came Love, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hollywood Homicide, The Island, and Ladder 49. Kevin
is a graduate of The Juilliard Drama Division.
ROSS HELLWIG (Harris Wofford, others) Los Angeles Theatre: All’s Well That Ends Well and Macbeth
(Kingsmen Shakespeare Company), Photograph 51 (The Fountain Theatre), The Rainmaker (A Noise Within), The
Rover and Troilus & Cressida (The Antaeus Company). Regional: Vincent in Brixton, Macbeth, Don
Juan, Antony & Cleopatra, The Comedy of Errors, The Winter’s Tale, and As You Like It (The Old
Globe Theatre), Spinning into Butter (Pittsburgh Public Theatre), Private Lives (Pittsburgh Irish and Classical
Theatre), Romeo & Juliet (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival), And Then They Came For Me (Mill Mountain
Theatre), Romeo & Juliet (Theatreworks/USA), Henry V (Westport Shakespeare in the Park), A Midsummer
Night’s Dream (Shakespeare Under the Stars). Television: “Numb3rs,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Guiding Light.”
THOMAS VINCENT KELLY (John Seigenthaler, others) is pleased to join L.A. Theatre Works’ Production of RFK: The
Journey to Justice. Los Angeles stage credits include: Death of a Salesman at Interact; The Wind Cries Mary at
East/West Players; Mr. Kolpert at the Odyssey Theatre and Only Say the Word for Ensemble Studio Theatre. He
has performed with theatres throughout the country including San Jose Rep., Goodman, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare,
Writers’ Theatre, Seanachai Theatre (where he is a founding member), American Players, Connecticut Rep. and Shakespearean
Festivals in Utah, Florida, Illinois and Idaho. Television credits include: “Saving Grace,” “The Closer,” “24,” “Without a
Trace,” and numerous other guest appearances.
LYNN WACTOR (Coretta Scott King, others) After graduating from the Baltimore School for the Arts as a theater major, Lynn
continued her theater training at the University of Maryland at College Park, before moving on to further her studies in New
York. She quickly joined the New York and touring companies of the hit off-Broadway production STOMP. After doing some
serious globe trotting, the Baltimore native ventured to Los Angeles and rounded out her training at the Groundlings school
for improv. She has been ensconced in the world of Independent film and theater; some of her mainstream credits include
“Criminal Minds,” “ER,” “The DL Chronicles,” the film Rent, the Santa Monica Playhouse production of UGLy and BUNNI
AND CLYDE at the Celebration Theater. She is extremely proud to have been involved in countless table reads in the living
rooms of many terribly talented writers. Lynn is thrilled to be a part of this project, and to be working with L.A. Theatre Works.
JOHN WESLEY (Louis Martin, others) Theatre Credits: STICK FLY (McCarter Theatre, Matrix Theatre) Seven Guitars,
A Streetcar Named Desire, Jitney and Blues for an Alabama Sky (Denver Center for Performing Arts);
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (GeVa); Richard II, Coriolanus, Twelfth Night, Two Gentlemen of
Verona (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Ionesco’s Macbett and Toys in the Attic (Old Globe Theatre - Atlas Award
for the latter); An American Clock, Wild Oats (Mark Taper Forum); OyamO’s I Am A Man (Fountain Theatre Drama -Logue Award for Best Supporting Actor). Over 90 films and television movies including 48 Hours, Missing In Action,
Believers, The Twenty, Big Fish, The Wood, 13th Child and Remember the Titans. He was artistic and producing director of the
Southern California Black Repertory Company, where his productions of Athol Fugard’s Sizwe Bansi Is Dead and The Island
went on to tour for three years.
RFK: A Brief Chronology
1925: November 20 in Brookline, MA. Robert Francis Kennedy is the seventh child of Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose
Fitzgerald Kennedy.
1939-1942: Attends Portsmouth Priority
1942-1944: Attends Milton Academy
1944-46: Serves in the United States Navy Reserve while enrolled at Harvard University
1946: Serves aboard the USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.
1948: Graduates from Harvard University. Visits Cairo, Israel and Lebanon to cover the Arab-Israeli conflict for the
Boston Post. Begins law school at University of Virginia.
1950: Marries Ethel Skakel, a college friend of his sister Jean.
1951: Graduates from University of Virginia Law School. Admitted to the Massachusetts bar. Makes a trip to Asia with
his brother John and sister Patricia.
1951-52: Acts as Attorney in the Criminal Division at the Department of Justice.
1952: Serves as Campaign Manager in John F. Kennedy’s election to U.S. Senate
1952-1953: Serves as Assistant Counsel, Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, headed by Senator
Joseph McCarthy. Investigative work repudiates McCarthy’s claim that American foreign policy is being created by
subversives.
1953-1954: Serves as Assistant Counsel, Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch.
1954-1957: Returns to Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations as Chief Counsel to the Minority. Condemns
Senator McCarthy’s allegations of Communists infiltrating the U.S. Army.
1955: Travels to Soviet Central Asia with Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas
1957-60: Serves as Chief Counsel, Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management
Field. Gains national recognition for his investigations into the Teamsters Union and for his relentless and mocking
questioning of Jimmy Hoffa and David Beck.
1959-1960: Serves as Campaign Manager in JFK’s election to the Presidency. (This is where the play begins.)
1960: Publishes The Enemy Within, a book describing corrupt practices of unions, particularly the
Teamsters, which he uncovered while working as chief counsel of the Senate Labor Rackets Committee
in 1957–59.
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1961:
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October: JFK calls Coretta Scott King to express concern for the safety of her husband, Reverend Martin
Luther King, Jr., after he is jailed in Georgia for violating probation on a minor traffic charge after sitting in
at a department store lunch counter. Dr. King is released shortly thereafter.
November 8: JFK is elected 35th president of the United States.
January 20: John F. Kennedy inaugurated as president. RFK’s appointment as U.S. Attorney General is
confirmed and he serves as Attorney General from January, 1961 until his resignation on September 3,
1964.
May 4: Freedom Rides begin.
May 6: In addressing the University of Georgia Law School, RFK makes his first major speech as Attorney
General. Expresses the Kennedy administration’s commitment to civil rights.
May 20: RFK orders U.S. marshals into Montgomery, Alabama, after the attacks on Freedom Riders.
1962: RFK’s Goodwill Tour around the world.
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March 1962: RFK authorizes FBI to begin wiretapping the telephones of Stanley Levison, an advisor to
Martin Luther King, Jr. who J. Edgar Hoover believes is a Communist.
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September 20: James Meredith seeks admission to University of Mississippi. Because of resistance from the
university community and MS Governor Ross Barnett, President John F. Kennedy ordered federal marshals
to ensure Meredith’s right to enroll and to protect him as he moved to the campus. Riots break out and JFK
orders federal troops to quell riots.
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October 1: James Meredith becomes the first black student at the University of Mississippi.
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October 14-28: Cuban missile crisis.
1963:
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1964:
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April: Dr. King begins “Project C” in Birmingham, Alabama to protest police tactics used against AfricanAmericans. Mass arrests are made in response to quell the violence. In response to his incarceration, Dr.
King writes “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”
May 25: RFK meets in NYC with a group of civil rights activists convened by James Baldwin. The group
includes social psychologist Kenneth B. Clark, playwright Lorraine Hansberry, performers Harry Belafonte
and Lena Horne, the counsel to the Gandhi Society, the director of the Chicago Urban League, and Freedom
Rider Jerome Smith.
June 11: Alabama National Guardsmen called in to accompany 2 African-American students as they are
admitted to the University of Alabama. Governor George Wallace personally tries to block their entrance.
Later that night, President Kennedy gives his famous civil rights address to the nation, calling for a civil
rights act.
July 23-30: RFK takes part in Senate hearings on civil rights bill.
August 28: March on Washington takes place and Dr. King delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech.
October 10: RFK authorizes the FBI to begin wiretapping the telephones of the Martin Luther King, Jr.
November 22: President and brother John F. Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, TX
July 2: Civil Rights Act outlawing racial segregation in schools, public places, and employment, is signed
by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
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September 3: Resigns as U.S. Attorney General in order to run for U.S. State Senator from New York.
August 27: At the Democratic National Convention, RFK is met with a 20-minute standing ovation when
he appears to make a tribute to his slain brother.
November: Elected as a Democrat from New York to U.S. Senate, an office he will hold until his death.
1965: August 6: Voting Rights Act outlawing discriminatory voting practices is signed by President Lyndon B.
Johnson.
1966: January: RFK gives two speeches called “Problems of the Urban Negro.”
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February: Kennedy visits the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn -- an area of few unified families, high
unemployment, low income, and no federal aid – that had been heavily damaged during race riots in 1964.
The area’s need prompts RFK to devise a way to encourage private funders to partner with public officials
and community leaders to encourage investment and business opportunities to address economic and social
issues.
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February: Publicly breaks with the Johnson administration from support of Vietnam War.
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March 10: RFK travels to California to show support for striking migrant workers. His meetings with Cesar
Chavez and Dolores Huerta of the National Farm Workers Association led RFK to resolve to work on behalf
of the workers, particularly because of their approach to non-violent protest. Kennedy’s public profile brought
the farm workers’ cause into the national spotlight.
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June 6: Delivers the Day of Affirmation speech at University of Cape Town, South Africa, in which he
connects the U.S. civil rights movement with resistance to racial segregation in South Africa.
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December 10: RFK’s official public introduction of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Development and Service
Corporation.
1967: Publishes To Seek a Newer World, a collection of essays expressing RFK’s viewpoint on a wide range of issues.
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1968:
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April: Travels as part of the Senate Subcommittee on Poverty traveled to Jackson, Mississippi, to hold
hearings on the problems the poor in the South have with a government food program.
Late Spring: Meets with child psychologist Dr. Robert Coles and Dr. Raymond Wheeler, a physician from
North Carolina. Both men had been studying the impoverished living conditions of the rural poor in the
South. The doctors spur RFK’s interest in doing more for hungry children.
January: Publicly announces that he won’t seek presidential nomination in 1968 election.
February: Makes historic trip through Appalachia on fact-finding mission about poverty and hunger
March 18: Announces candidacy for U.S. presidency
March 31: LBJ announces that he will not seek re-election to the presidency.
April 4: MLK assassinated in Memphis, TN. Arriving in Indianapolis for a campaign rally, RFK breaks the
news to a crowd who were unaware of King’s death. His speech that night is largely unscripted, includes a
rare public reference to his brother’s death, and asks his supporters to honor
King’s message of non-violence.
June 5: Mortally wounded by an assassin’s bullet at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California, just
after winning victory in that state’s crucial Democratic primary.
June 6: RFK dies at the age of 42 from the effect of the assassin’s bullet. Is buried at Arlington National
Cemetery after a funeral train transports his body from New York City – where his funeral was conducted at
St. Patrick’s Cathedral – to Washington, D.C.
Highlights of the Civil Rights Movement
1954: The U.S. Supreme Court declares school segregation unconstitutional in Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka
ruling. The ruling declares that separate public schools for African-American and white students denies African-American
children equal educational opportunities.
1955: Rosa Parks refuses to move to the back of a Montgomery, Alabama, bus as required by city ordinance. The
Montgomery bus boycott follows. The Federal Interstate Commerce Commission bans segregation on interstate trains
and buses. On December 5, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – a Baptist minister -- is elected president of the Montgomery
Improvement Association and he becomes the official spokesman for the boycott.
1957: Arkansas Gov. Orval Rubus uses the National Guard to prevent nine African-American students from attending
Little Rock High School. Following a court order, President Eisenhower sends in federal troops to ensure compliance. Dr.
King forms the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to fight segregation and achieve civil rights.
1960: February 1: The first lunch counter sit-in is conducted by four African-American college students at a Woolworth’s
in Greensboro, North Carolina because African American patrons are refused service.
April: The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) is formed in response to the lunch counter sit-ins. The
organization will become a major organizer in the civil rights movement, playing important roles in the Freedom Rides of
1961, the 1963 March on Washington. SNCC’s major contribution was in organizing voter registration drives throughout
the South, especially in Georgia and Mississippi.
October 19: Dr. King is arrested for sitting in at a lunch counter demonstration. The charge of violating probation on a
minor traffic charge does not warrant the sentence he is given. King is released from jail, possibly due to phone calls made
to a local judge by Robert F. Kennedy, manager of his brother John’s presidential campaign.
1961: May 4: Freedom Rides begin from Washington, D.C., headed to New Orleans. The first was led by CORE
(Congress of Racial Equality); others led by SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee). The riders are
primarily student volunteers testing out new laws prohibiting segregation in interstate travel facilities, which does not
include bus and railway stations. The Riders are met with violence in Anniston, Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama.
More than 1,000 people will volunteer with the effort.
1962: September: President John F. Kennedy sends federal troops to the University of Mississippi to quell riots so that
James Meredith, the school’s first black student, can attend.
October: Martin Luther King,, Jr. is arrested and jailed during anti-segregation protests in Birmingham, Alabama. While
incarcerated, he writes “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” arguing that people have the moral duty to disobey laws that are
unjust.
The Supreme Court rules that segregation is unconstitutional in all transportation facilities.
1963: June 11: Alabama National Guardsmen called in to accompany 2 African-American students as they are admitted to
the University of Alabama. Governor George Wallace personally tries to block their entrance. Later that night, President
Kennedy gives his famous civil rights address to the nation, calling for a civil rights act.
June 12: The NAACP’s Mississippi field secretary Medgar Evers is murdered outside his
home by a sniper’s bullet.
August 28: “The March on Washington:” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech to
hundreds of thousands. Nation of Islam leader Malcolm X refers to the March as “the farce on Washington” and
denounced the event.
September 15: A bomb explodes at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The church was
the site of many civil rights meetings. Four young African American girls attending Sunday School are killed.
1964: July 2: After a 75-day long filibuster in Congress, the Civil Rights Act is passed and signed by President
Lyndon B. Johnson. It prohibits discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion or national origin. It
also gives the federal government powers to enforce desegregation. Three civil rights workers – James Chaney,
Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner -- disappear in Mississippi after being stopped for speeding; they are
found buried six weeks later.
December 10: MLK receives the Nobel Peace Prize.
1965: February 21: Malcolm X assassinated.
March 7: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference attempts to hold a march from Selma to Montgomery,
Alabama in order to demand protection for voting rights. Following a meeting with President Johnson, Dr. King
initially opposes the march and does not participate. The march is disbanded before completion because of the
mob and police violence against the participants. Another attempt to march – this time organized by Dr. King – is
blocked. Finally, the march is completed on March 25.
August 6: Voting Rights Act outlawing discriminatory voting practices is signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
August 11-16: Race riots break out in the Watts section of Los Angeles, leaving the area burned and looted by the
end of the siege. Thirty-four people are killed; 1,032 injured; and 3,952 arrested.
1966: Stokely Carmichael, leader of SNCC, begins the Black Power movement. Carmichael believed that in order
to genuinely integrate, Blacks first had to unite in solidarity and become self-reliant.
October 15: In finalizing a draft of their 10-point party platform, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale found the
Black Panthers, a civil rights activist group that authorizes the use of violence.
November: Edward Brooke, a Republican from Massachusetts, is elected the first African-American U.S. Senator
in 85 years.
1967: March 4: MLK delivers a speech entitled “Beyond Vietnam,” strongly speaking out against the U.S.
government’s role in the war.
June 17: Thurgood Marshall becomes the first African American to be named to the Supreme Court.
July: Race riots in Detroit, Michigan and Newark, New Jersey lead to looting and burning of the city’s
downtown areas.
November: Carl Stokes (Cleveland) and Richard G. Hatcher (Gary, Indiana) are elected the first AfricanAmerican mayors of major U.S. cities.
November 27: MLK and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference begin to plan the Poor People’s
Campaign to address issues of economic injustice for poor people of every minority. King calls it the “second
phase” of the civil rights struggle.
1968: MLK announces that the Poor People’s Campaign will culminate in a March on Washington, the goal of
which is achieving a $12 billion Economic Bill of Rights guaranteeing employment to those who can, incomes to
people unable to work, and an end to housing discrimination.
March 18: RFK announces his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.
March 28: In support of striking sanitation workers, MLK leads thousands of protesters through Memphis,
Tennessee.
April 3: MLK delivers his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” sermon.
April 4: Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. His death sets off riots in more than 100
cities across the United States.
April 8: NBC broadcasts an episode of singer Petula Clark’s TV show in which Clark smiled and briefly touched
the arm of singer Harry Belafonte. National controversy over inter-racial contact ensues when the show’s sponsor
tries to have the moment cut from the broadcast.
May: Approximately 50,000 people participate in the Poor People’s March on Washington, which had been
planned by MLK before his death.
June 5: Presidential candidate and former MLK foe Robert Kennedy is assassinated just after winning the
California presidential primary. He dies a day later.
Dramaturge’s Bibliography
--, --. “Kennedy and Baldwin: The Gulf.” Newsweek, June 3, 1963, p. 19.
--. --. “Meredith Supports More Civil Rights Legislation.” Atlanta Daily World, May 28, 1963, p. 1+.
--, --. “Races: Freedom Now.” Time, May 17, 1963, p. 23.
--. --. “Shocked By Naivete: Civil Rights Group Feels Dismay After Talk With Robert Kennedy.” Los Angeles
Times, May 26, 1963, p. F1+.
A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. edited by James Melvin
Washington. New York, NY: HarcperSanFrancisco, 1986.
Alsop, Joseph. “Matter of Fact…: The Neo-Colonial Problem.” The Washington Post, May 29, 1963. p. A17.
Anderson, Jack. “Washington Merry Go-Round.” Los Angeles Times, June 3, 1963, p. A6.
Baldwin, James. Collected Essays. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, 1998.
Branch, Taylor. Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-1963. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1988.
Boyd, Herb. Baldwin’s Harlem: A Biography of James Baldwin. New York: Atria Books, 2008.
Clarke, Thurston. “Bobby Kennedy: The Hope, the Tragedy, And Why He Still Matters.” Vanity Fair, June
2008. pp. 116-127+
Edelman, Peter. Searching for America’s Heart: RFK and the Renewal of Hope. New York: Houghton Mifflin
Company, 2001.
Fusco, Paul and James Stevenson. “R.F.K., R.I.P. Revisited.” The New York Times Magazine, June 1, 2008. pp.
32-37.
Gregory, Dick. “Speech at St. John’s Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama, May 20, 1963.” From www.
american radio works.com
Heyman, C. David. RFK: A Candid Biography of Robert Kennedy. New York, Dutton, 1998.
Hilty, James W. Robert Kennedy: Brother Protector. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1997.
Kennedy, John F. “Civil Rights Address.” June 11, 1963. from americanrhetoric.com
Kennedy, Robert F. “Law Day Address at the University of Georgia Law School.” May 6, 1961. from
americanrhetoric.com
Kennedy, Robert F. “On the Death of Martin Luther King,” April 4, 1968. from www. The history place.com
Kennedy, Maxwell Taylor, ed. Make Gentle the Life of the World: the vision of Robert F. Kennedy. New York:
Harcourt Brace, 1998.
Reeves, Richard. President Kennedy: Profile of Power. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993.
Robert Kennedy In His Own Words: The Unpublished Recollections of the Kennedy Years. Edwin O. Guthman
and Jeffrey Shulman, editors. New York: Bantam Press, 1988.
Robinson, Layhmond. “Robert Kennedy Consults Negroes Here About North: James Baldwin, Lorraine
Hansberry and Lena Horne Are Among Those Who Warn Him of ‘Explosive Situation.” The New York Times,
May 25, 1963, p. 1+
Schlesinger, Arthur Jr. Robert Kennedy and His Times. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002.
Solet, Sue. “Negroes Shocked by Robert Kennedy’s ‘Naivete.’’ The Washington Post, May 26, 1963. p. A6.
Talbot, David. Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years. New York: Free Press, 2007.
Thomas, Evan.
Witcover, Jules. 85 Days: The Last Campaign of Robert Kennedy. New York: Quill, 1969.
Wechsler, James A. “RFK & Baldwin.” New York Post, May 28, 1963, p. 30.
Wofford, Harris. Of Kennedys & Kings: Making Sense of the Sixties. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1980.
Video/DVD:
American Experience: RFK. (2004)
American Experience: The Kennedys. (1992)
Senate Transcripts:
“Civil Rights Commission: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights of the
Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate 89th Congress.” July 18-31, 1963