The stage reading offers a glance behind the scenes of fateful days of the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. Under the direction of Alexandra Schenke, a historian at the Amerika-Institut of LMU Munich with degrees in acting and film, students of the Amerika-Institut will simulate some of the tensest moments and exchanges of the crisis. The stage reading, conceived in collaboration with Dr. Andreas Etges, is based on excerpts from speeches and letters by John F. Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev, and Fidel Castro, secret recordings of Kennedy’s crisis team and other primary sources. Reimagined and respoken, they will be brought to life on stage within a framework of classic theater and multimedia elements, providing a special experience of this historical event 60 years later.

It was made possible with support from the US Embassy Berlin and the Alumni Association of the Amerika-Institut of LMU Munich. Supported by the John F. Kennedy Institute of Freie Universität Berlin (see also the attached poster).

If you are unable to come (which we would regret) or if you want a better idea what to expect, here is the link to the recording of the first performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE_nyANrUFM&t=11s