“This Is Father Berrigan Speaking from the Underground”: Daniel Berrigan SJ and the Conception of a Radical Theatre

The letter “Father Berrigan Speaks to the Actors from Underground” suggests the conception of a radical theatre, intended as a contribution to a cultural front against the US government as it escalated the war in Vietnam. Berrigan’s dramatization of the trial in which he and fellow antiwar activists were arraigned for publicly burning draft cards in 1968, The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, coincided with Berrigan’s efforts to continue his ministry while a fugitive.