Sat, Oct 26 at DemFest: No Sense of Decency

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Learning Life and Tonic Theater are pleased to present a reading of the play, No Sense of Decency, at the first Democracy Festival in the U.S. capital region on Saturday, October 26, 2024, at 2:30-4:30pm.

No Sense of Decency, by Richard Vetere, is set in Washington D.C. in 1954.  U.S. Senator Joe McCarthy, at the height of his influence, drawing on public fears of communism and homosexuality, confronts his Democratic political and moral archenemy in the U.S. Senate, Wyoming Senator Lester Hunt, Sr.  McCarthy tells Hunter that if he continues his reelection campaign, McCarthy will bring to national attention the arrest of his son Lester ‘Buddy’ Hunt, Jr, for sexually soliciting an undercover male police officer.  At that time, homosexuals were banned from working for, or having any formal connection to anyone who worked for the U.S. government. It was a ban conceived by McCarthy himself.  Buddy Hunt courageously urged his father to nonetheless continue his campaign, which Hunt was expected to win.  But confronted with the horrible dilemma, Senator Hunt committed suicide.  This tragedy was one of the main reasons why Senator Joe McCarthy was soon censured by his own Republican Party.  That censure quickened the demise of McCarthy’s political career and a horrible period in American history.

Join us on October 26 for the play’s reading to watch the drama unfold, as playwright Richard Vetere retells it!  Richard Vetere is a playwright, novelist, poet and film and TV writer, actor, director and producer. His most known work is The Third Miracle published by Simon & Schuster.  He co-wrote the screenplay adaptation starring Ed Harris directed by Agnieszka Holland, produced by Francis Ford Coppola and released by Sony Picture Classics. He also wrote the cult classic movie, Vigilante, called “one of the best indies of the 1980s” by BAM.  His teleplay adaptation of his stage play, The Marriage Fool, starring Walter Matthau and Carol Burnett was the highest rated TV movie ever for CBS TV Films. Richard will be at Demfest in person on Saturday, October 26 to discuss and answer questions about the play, following the reading.

Tonic Theater Company is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to increasing public knowledge and understanding of history and science around the world through the power of theater.  “Our understanding of history evolves, and science is constantly advancing. We believe that theater must also change and adapt. That’s why we’re reaching beyond theater walls and across borders to build a global community.”