Staged reading of Richard Rhodes' new play, "Reykjavik"

Reykjavik is a two-act play by Richard Rhodes based on the historic summit meeting between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev held at Reykjavik, Iceland, in October 1986. The two leaders came as close at that meeting as any world leaders have yet done to agreeing to pursue the elimination of nuclear weapons. Reykjavik explores their arguments for doing so, and the reasons they were unable ultimately to agree. It's a history play in the tradition of A Walk in the Woods, Copenhagen and the recent Frost-Nixon, with a limited set of characters and maximum fidelity to the facts. The dialogue and action are based on the original transcripts, both Soviet and U.S., of the proceedings. The characters include Reagan, Gorbachev, George Shultz, Eduard Shevardnadze, Raisa Gorbacheva, Richard Perle and the ghost of Robert Oppenheimer.
Reykjavik has received successful staged readings in Chicago, Washington, New York and Santa Fe.

The play reading will be staged with a full cast, at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5, in the Monterey Institute's Irvine Auditorium at 499 Pierce St., Monterey, CA., 93942. Tel. (831) 375-5441. Admission is free and open to the public.