Are You Now or Have You Ever Been

An AMERICAN DOCUDRAMA

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Written by Eric Bentley

Directed by Anna D. Shapiro​

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Performances begin June 2, 2026

For A Strictly Limited 15-Week Engagement At New York City Center Stage I

 

This summer, in a strictly limited engagement, a rotating all-star cast comes together for a timely and important revival of Eric Bentley's ARE YOU NOW OR HAVE YOU EVER BEEN. This electrifying docudrama drops you into the tense world of the 1940s House Committee on Un-American Activities hearings, where fame offered no protection and political pressure could end a career.

 

Using only the original transcripts, the play features the words of artists like Arthur Miller, Jerome Robbins, Paul Robeson, Elia Kazan, Lillian Hellman, Abe Burrows, and Lionel Stander as they faced impossible choices: defend their integrity, protect their careers, or betray their peers. And yet the probing, chilling questions posed by the committee are as powerful as the testimonies themselves, revealing a climate of intimidation and moral conflict that resonates far beyond its time.

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