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"I hope to make audiences see how poorly investigated and how poorly handled the JFK investigation was and still is," says John Ballantyne, author of a new play on the case called Specter of Treason. The play, which Ballantyne is also directing, premieres in his native Youngstown, Ohio, this November 22, the 33rd anniversary of the assassination.
Specter of Treason is the culmination of more than ten years of research by Ballantyne, who says he didn't start thinking about this project until 1992 or 1993. Around that time, he says, he felt he had something to say about the JFK assassination, and a way to say it. "My research over the years consisted of most of the major books written on the assassination as well as most of the major videos that have been done on it. Television documentaries were also used as were newspaper articles out of various papers around the country. I felt that I had to establish a critieria for the use of information. If I found the same information, on a certain aspect of the assassination, contained in three different sources and all three of those sources came to pretty much the same conclusion, then I used that info in the show."
Ballantyne's play centers on the idea that Lee Harvey Oswald survives the wounds inflicted by Jack Ruby, and after recovering, stands trial for JFK's assassination. The special twist he gives it is that the outcome of the play is up to the audience, who at a certain point will be asked to deliver a verdict against the defendant. "The final scenes are played out in accordance with the 'jury's' decision," Ballantyne says.
This is not the first time the idea of Oswald surviving his wounds has been used as a jumping-off point for a fictionalized trial. It was the basis of a TV movie in the early 1970s, and as recently as 1992 was used in Walt Brown's novel, The People v. Lee Harvey Oswald.
"Specter of Treason has many similarities to some other productions and novels that have been written," playwright Ballantyne concedes. "I would say, however, that the biggest difference lies in the initial intent of writing the play. I became very aware during my years of research and in giving speeches about the assassination, how little the American public actually knows about this crime. Even things that are supposedly 'common knowledge,' I found to be almost stunning revelations to many people."
Asked for an example of this, Ballantyne told Fair Play, "Many people, particularly students, had little knowledge of the single-bullet theory and the physical reaction of the President as seen in the Zapruder film. Many people did not realize the number of wounds between Kennedy and Connally and how the Warren Commission explained how supposedly one bullet did all this damage. Many people did not realize that Lee Oswald was not that good a shot, even in the Marines. Some didn't even realize that he had been in the Marines. People didn't realize how slow the Secret Service was to react. Many people didn't know that Oswald claimed to be in the lunchroom in the TSBD at the time of the assassination. I could go on and on."
Ballantyne says America's schools bear much of the blame for the unquestioning acceptance of the Warren Commission findings. "So, my initial intent was to educate, more or less. I wanted to lay out an assortment of information so that people could begin to evaluate the information that is out there. Formatting the script in the form of a trial gave me the opportunity to offer both sides of the argument --- the non-conspiracy and the conspiracy. I then took bits and pieces from different theories and mixed them into the prosecution's and the defense's arguments and witnesses."
At the appropriate time in the show, the audience will be asked to render their verdict. Their ballots will be collected and counted backstage during a "cover scene." Ballantyne says there are four possible outcomes: "The first, and most obvious, is Not Guilty. The second is Guilty of Murder In The First Degree (meaning that Oswald acted alone). The third is Guilty of Murder In The Second Degree (meaning that Oswald did not act alone and may not have actually pulled the trigger). The fourth is Undecided (a hung jury). We will probably never see the hung jury decision, although, you never know!"
Specter of Treason will run for six performances over two consecutive weekends. A two-day seminar is scheduled for November 29 and 30 to coincide with the second weekend of performances. "Both John Judge of COPA and George Michael Evica of JFK Lancer will be conducting seminar sessions," Ballantyne says. "What their specific topics will be is uncertain as of yet." He says one of the seminar's sessions will be videotaped, and probalby made available for purchase later. The play itself will also be taped and available for purchase, as well as the script.
The cast consists of a total of 57 roles with an additional 20 being added for the scene where Oswald is shot. Four Youngstown reporters and one former reporter are in the cast. Jim Levealle, one of two Dallas Police Officers handcuffed to Oswald when the latter was gunned down, worked with Ballantyne in writing the script. "Most of what he did was give me bits and pieces of information concerning Oswald and Oswald's character during the interrogations. His personal observations were very helpful."
Specter of Treason will be available for national production. Performance rights are being handled by Desktop Productions in Youngstown.
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