Today the trial of Private First Class Bradley Manning begins. To mark this occasion, I’m releasing an audio recording of my monologue BRADLEY MANNING’S WAR, recorded on April 22nd at the Public Theater in Joe’s Pub in New York City.
This recording is the first time I had ever tackled the subject aloud, and is raw and ungainly in places—it is what it is, a single public conversation on a single night. But aesthetic considerations are secondary to my concerns as a citizen, and with the amount of disinformation and spin clouding the issues of Mr. Manning’s actions, motives, and disposition, if this piece is even slightly helpful in creating a human connection for people it will be worthwhile.
For a remarkable and well-told story of Mr. Manning’s in another medium, I unreservedly recommend Chase Madar’s THE PASSION OF BRADLEY MANNING, which is without a doubt the best book on the subject that has been written so far. Mr. Madar does a comprehensive, clear-eyed, and humane job covering the facts of the case. You can purchase his book here.
I’ll be revising and returning to Mr. Manning and his war in the future, regardless of what the courts decide, because I believe his war is a war we must all be waging, in ways large and small. His crimes are crimes of conscience—if we refuse to understand why he was driven to them, we can not understand the face of who we are in the world.
You can download an MP3 of the performance here:
BRADLEY MANNING’S WAR