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Our series Arts and Sciences nears its climax Tuesday, June 18, when we probe the line between science fiction & scientific fact. In Arthur Kopit's "Y2K" ("BecauseHeCan") (1999), a couple find their assets seized & their private records rewritten by an unknown, unseen computer hacker who puts them in places they never went, doing things they never considered, with people they never met. Both "dark comedy" & "horrifying cautionary tale" (New York Times), "Y2K" is "erotically charged" (Washington Post) & "sharply written" (Village Voice), a "brilliant" play (New Yorker) that "haunted audiences" at its world premiere (Christian Science Monitor).
But is "Y2K" paranoid fantasy or present danger? Our June speaker has unique qualifications for addressing that question. Dr. Dorothy Denning is Patricia and Patrick Callahan Family Professor of Computer Science & director of the Institute for Information Assurance at Georgetown University. Last November, Time Magazine called her America's "secret weapon" against cyberattack. Her recent books include "Information Warfare and Security" (1999) & "Internet Besieged: Countering Cyberspace Scofflaws" (1998).
Make reservations by calling 202-898-4825 any time, day or night, or e-mailing [email protected]. Demand "Y2K" at Backstage Books, 545 8th St., SE, & for a special discount at Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave., NW, & Olsson's Books & Records, 1307 19th St., NW, & 7647 Old Georgetown Rd., Bethesda.
We will meet in June at a new location, Pan Asian Noodles and Grill, 2020 P St., NW (202-872-8889), just west of Dupont Circle. For this meeting dinner begins at 6 p.m.; our discussion takes place 7:30-9. Rush-hour parking limits lift at 6:30 but expect spots to have vanished by 6:35.
Our 2002 Greatest Hits Festival peaks this month with three performances of plays we discussed earlier & finally have a chance to see on stage. At 2:30 p.m. Sunday, June 2, we'll see "Side Man" (1998) at Everyman Theatre, 1727 N. Charles St. in Baltimore. We'll have dinner afterwards at Zodiac, 1726 N. Charles, across the street from the theater. Back in DC, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 5, we'll attend a live taping of "The Heidi Chronicles" (1988) at Voice of America, 330 Independence Ave., SW (Federal Center SW metro). Starting at 6, we'll gather for drinks & happy-hour snacks at Market Inn, 200 E St., SW, three blocks from the theater. Our Festival ends 2 p.m. Sunday, June 23, at the new Round House Theatre, 7501 Wisconsin Ave. in downtown Bethesda, with Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer prize-winning classic "Our Town" (1938), starring Emmy & Helen Hayes award-winning actress Pat Carroll. After "Our Town" we'll have dinner at Tako Grill, 7756 Wisconsin Ave., one of the DC area's 100 "Best Bargain" restaurants (Washingtonian Magazine). "Side Man" & "Heidi" are sold out. Discount tickets for "Our Town" are $22 but going fast. Contact Robin Larkin, 5403 Nibud Ct., Rockville, MD 20852 (240-669-6300 & [email protected]). All sales are final.
On Wednesday, July 24, our study of science closes with what The New York Times called "a fanciful domestic comedy for an apocalyptic age": "Rain. Some Fish. No Elephants." (1989), by Y York. In "Rain," an eccentric family rebels against the monolithic government of a world ruled by racism & genetic engineering. "Exciting" (New York Daily News) but "full of laughs" (Village Voice), "with passion and a distinctive sense of humor" (Variety), "Rain" "nicely marries 'Father Knows Best' with '1984' and 'Brave New World'" (Washington Times). We'll seek shelter with Cheryl Faraone, professor at Middlebury College, co-founder of the Potomac Theatre Project, & director of PTP's 1994 production of "Rain. Some Fish. No Elephants."
Tues., June 18: "Y2K" ("BecauseHeCan"), Pan Asian Noodles
Wed., July 24: "Rain. Some Fish. No Elephants.," Delray Viet Garden
all Footlights meetings run from 7:30-9:30 p.m., with dinner from
6:30-7:30.
Sun., June 2: "Side Man," Everyman Theatre
Wed., June 5: "The Heidi Chronicles," Voice of America
Sun., June 23: "Our Town," Round House Theatre
For more information about Footlights, check our website, www.footlightsdc.org. You can subscribe to our list & receive our monthly e-letter for free by sending any message--even blank--to [email protected].