美式话剧《绝密》

choi

Andrew Jacobs, Chinese Allow Play on Pentagon Papers, but Not a Talk About It; A last-minute text cancels a post-show discussion. New York Times, Dec 3, 2011.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/0 ... %20paper&st=cse

"During its 10-day run 'Top Secret' has played to sold-out audiences in Shanghai and Guangzhou, with many performances punctuated by shouts of approval from the audience and standing ovations. Perhaps most gratifying for the producers was that those audiences were almost entirely Chinese and young, many of whom learned about the production through weibo * * * 'It was a refreshing contrast to the US, where you’re always playing to 60-year-olds and struggling to reach younger audiences,' Ms [Susan Albert] Loewenberg[, the producing director of LA Theater Works, which shepherded 'Top Secret' to China] said.

"Although she had been told to steer clear of 'sensitive topics,' Ms [Alison] Friedman [of Ping Pong Productions] said she was assured that the post-performance discussion would go ahead as planned, as it had in Shanghai. It was just after intermission when she received the disappointing text message. Later, as the cast was taking its bow and she was announcing the cancellation of the discussion, she could hear a university official exhorting a technician to kill her microphone. It was too late. A sigh rose through the members of the crowd, but as they filed out of the theater, few expressed surprise.


Note:
(a) “Top Secret: Battle for the Pentagon Papers”   “绝密：五角大楼文件之战”
(b) scotch (vt; Middle English scocchen to gash): "to put an end to <scotched rumors of a military takeover>"
www.m-w.com
(c) gimlet-eyed (adj): "SHARP-SIGHTED"

gimlet (tool)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimlet_(tool)
(d) The "chop" in burnish its journalistic chops"

(n; Hindi chāp & Urdu chhāp stamp):
"1a : a seal or official stamp or its impression
* * *
2c : QUALITY, GRADE <of the first chop>"
(d) Power to the People (song)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_to_the_People_(song)
(written by John Lennon, released as a single in 1971 by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band)

lyrics
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyr ... 0CC48256BCA00088B84
(e) Ping Pong Productions  乒乓策划
http://www.pingpongarts.org/
(f) contretemps (n; French, from contre- counter- + temps time, from Latin tempus):
"1: an inopportune or embarrassing occurrence or situation
2: DISPUTE, ARGUMENT"