Today Private First Class Bradley Manning will be sentenced. 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 returning to Mr. Manning and his war this fall, when I begin performances of THE SECRET WAR: a monologue about three whistleblowers: Bradley Manning, Edward Snowden, and Daniel Ellsberg. It's also a story about why we keep secrets, and the price we pay for keeping them.
You can download an MP3 of the performance here:
BRADLEY MANNING'S WAR