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vehicle for communication and as a
resource for revealing truth.

eter Sagal's Denial will have
The Writer
a run in Michigan a few
months before he does.
Sagal, who grew up in suburban New
The drama about a
Jersey and majored in English at
Holocaust denier will be performed.
Harvard, discovered his interest in the-
Feb. 26-March 30 by the Jewish
ater in college. Because Harvard
Ensemble Theatre, and it will precede
offered no credits for theater projects,
the live, Ann Arbor broadcast in June
he gave a priority to directing and act-
of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the week- ing while "skating" through his aca-
ly news quiz show Sagal hosts for
demic requirements.
National Public Radio.
After graduation, the playwright land-
Denial follows the experiences of a
ed work as a literary manager in a large
college professor who has written an
California theater, now defunct. As he
inflammatory book
read scripts and became friends
denying the
with writers, he challenged
Holocaust and is
himself to start writing as well.
indicted by the gov-
"I was driven, and I did it,"
ernment for inciting
says Sagal, who quit his job to
violence. He seeks out
express his own ideas. "I got
the American Civil
some offers to write screen-
Liberties Union and
plays, one on the basis of a
its leading Jewish
reading of Denial.
attorney for his
"After many transmutations
defense.
by other writers I don't know
"I wrote this play
and have nothing to do with, it
almost 10 years ago
is going to be made as "Dirty
because it was an
Dancing II," which wasn't my
Peter Sagal: "In a
incredibly sensitive
intent at all. It's going to be
weird sense, there 's no
issue that made me
called
Havana Nights, and I'm
villain in the pla Y"
mad," says Sagal, 38.
not sure at this point if it's
"I wanted the play to
going to mention my name."
make people confront what the main
Denial is Sagal's only play that
character is saying and why he is say-
relates to his Jewish upbringing. His
ing it.
other plays include Most Wanted a
"In a weird sense, there's no villain
comedy about parenting, and Real
in the play. I don't mean to say there's
Time, a satire about employees seeking
nobody who's wrong. All the charac-
revenge after the closing of a factory.
ters believe they are doing the right
For the screen, he has written an
thing.
adaptation of Denial as well as original
"I wanted to write a play in which
scripts, such as Lothario with Jess . Bravin
the Holocaust denier doesn't give any- and Savage with Patrick Highsmith.
body an excuse to dismiss him.
"If my plays [other than Denial]
Dismissing anyone as crazy and evil is
have anything in common, it's that
a way to avoid [that person}, and
they tend to be somewhat funny
that's not what I wanted the play to
expressions about serious subjects,"
do."
says Sagal, who has been awarded the
Helmed by JET's founding artistic
Charles MacArthur Fellowship from
director, Evelyn Orbach, the cast
the National Playwrights Conference,
includes local actors Arthur Beer,
the Jerome Fellowship from the
Walonda Lewis and Chris Korte, as
Playwrights Center and the McCorf
well as Sol Frieder of New York and
Arts Prize from Harvard.
Aaron Alpern and Rebecca Covey of
"Denial is my only play that takes on
Chicago.
anything approaching a current event
The production is part of JET's
or political issue, at least consciously.
Campaign Stop Hate, a non-political,
My other plays tend to be about peo-
nonprofit agenda utilizing art as a
ple trying to figure out who they are,