What happens when government oversteps the bounds of its power and infringes upon the rights of citizens? This question will be examined in a one act play at the Lakewood Public Library auditorium on Monday, March 3 at 7 p.m.

A creation of the Great Lakes Theater Festival (GLTF), Seeing Red dramatizes the actual testimony of four witnesses who spoke before the House Un-American Activities Committee, which investigated real and suspected Communists in positions of influence in American society. The first such investigation looked into allegations of Communists in the Federal Theatre Project. Seeing Red captures a pivotal time in our nation’s history, beginning in 1938 with Federal Theater Project director Hallie Flanagan’s testimony and progressing through Arthur Miller’s testimony in 1956.

Written by GLTF Director of Education, Daniel Hahn, Seeing Red was conceived as an educational companion piece to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, which will be produced at the Ohio Theatre at Playhouse Square during March and April. Although The Crucible describes events surrounding the accusations of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts of 1692, Miller was inspired to write the play by the congressional witch hunts of the 1940s and 1950s. Seeing Red provides a historical context for the Festival’s spring production of The Crucible and raises important questions about our government’s current political policies in the war on terror.

Seeing Red is a seventy-minute program that includes an introduction and post-performance discussion; it features a touring company of four actors. The March 3rd Lakewood Library performance is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. at the Main Library auditorium, 15425 Detroit Avenue.