"May 4th Voices" premiere on Western Reserve PBS

A video production of "May 4th Voices," a play that brings together first-person narratives about the May 4, 1970, shootings at Kent State University, will premiere on Western Reserve PBS (WEAO 49.1) on Friday, May 3, at 10 p.m. The play, written by David Hassler and directed by Katherine Burke, is based on the Kent State Shootings Oral History Project, which includes more than 115 interviews with National Guardsmen, students, townspeople and politicians. The interviews capture the sense of trauma, confusion and fear felt by people who witnessed or were involved with the May 4 shootings at KSU.  

The public is invited to a free sneak preview of the production, to be held on Thursday, May 2, at 7 p.m. at The Kent Stage, 175 E. Main St., Kent.  

First performed in 2010 in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the shootings, the "May 4th Voices" play is composed of verbatim excerpts from the Kent State Shootings Oral History Project, except for the voice of the narrator, Maj Ragain, who recites excerpts from his prose poem "May 4, 1970 / A Memory." Ragain was a graduate student on campus that day and now teaches creative writing at KSU and in the Kent community.

Hassler, director of KSU’s Wick Poetry Center, said that the video production "is exciting because 15 Kent State students were giving voice to those from a generation ago. It was a rich learning experience for these students to actually embody these voices speaking from so many different vantage points." The 90-minute production was funded by a grant from the Ohio Humanities Council and by Kent State University's College of Arts & Sciences, History Department, Wick Poetry Center and School of Theatre and Dance. Additional support was provided by Western Reserve PBS, The Kent Stage, Kent State University Press and Kent Historical Society. -

In tandem with the video production's premiere, The Kent State University Press will release the book "May 4th Voices: Kent State, 1970: A Play" and a companion teacher's resource book. The DVD of the film will be available in June from The Kent State University Press.

"May 4th Voices" will also air on Western Reserve Public Media's Fusion channel (WNEO 45.2/WEAO 49.2) on Saturday, May 4, at 10 p.m. and Monday, May 6, at 8 p.m. For more information, visit WesternReservePBS.org/schedule.htm or call the station at 1-800-554-4549.