KENNEBUNK — On Nov. 22, 1963, an American president was shot and killed in Dallas. For some, the effects are still felt to this day.

There exists a contingent that believes the full story of John F. Kennedy’s assassination has yet to be told. While many sources, ranging from national media to the U.S. government, maintain that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman ”“ firing his fateful shots from the window of a book depository in Dealey Plaza ”“ whispers of conspiracy have continued to captivate history buffs and peace activists.

On Friday, a handful of them convened at the New School in Kennebunk to revive the specter of doubt, and provide an alternative view of history, focusing on Kennedy and other prominent figures who were assassinated in the 1960s.

Employing the help of New School students and staff, the activists performed a play entitled “Project Unspeakable,” which examines the premature deaths of JFK, his brother Robert Kennedy, Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr. Sitting in a semicircle under an array of stage lights, actors read lines sourced from the recorded statements of those four figures, as well as historic personages from the realms of media, politics, social activism and the national security infrastructure.

James Raun, who traveled from Hope to take part in the reading, said the goal was to get the audience thinking about the turbulent 1960s in a new way.

“The play touches on things that are really important,” said Raun. “So if the students can grasp any strand that lets them understand military and social history, that’s great.”

“Project Unspeakable” is based in part on a book called “JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters” by James Douglass. The script, written by Court Dorsey, is slated to be performed in select locations nationwide by various casts, and will be staged in Harlem in January on the anniversary of Malcom X’s death.

Randy Kehler, a member of Project Unspeakable’s steering committee, said the play is “an attempt, through the use of live theater, to uncover, and bring to greater public awareness, the essential truth about these assassinations, at least in broad brush form, so that there can finally be closure and healing.”

Of course, not everyone subscribes to the conspiracy theory. Media figures and news organizations have steadily maintained that credible evidence points to Oswald being JFK’s lone assassin, and last autumn, one of those figures came to Kennebunkport to speak about the eventful day.

Bill Lord, who was an ABC News correspondent in 1963 and covered Kennedy’s death, gave a talk at the headquarters of the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust last November and strongly argued against the multiple-gunmen theory, and the notion that the fatal shot was fired from a grassy knoll just ahead of Kennedy’s motorcade.

In an interview with the Journal Tribune, Lord argued that the reason conspiracy theories have stuck around so persistently is that Oswald died before he was made to answer for his crime. That left the public wanting. And some still refuse to believe that one man, as otherwise insignificant as Oswald, could alone be responsible for changing the world so dramatically.

“There was no trial,” said Lord at the time. “We could never get at the nature of why he wanted to kill the president. By not bringing Oswald to trial, you ended up with many unanswered questions.

“The conspiracy theories don’t hold water,” he said. “But it’s an industry.”

Members of Friday’s “Project Unspeakable” performance would naturally disagree, citing quotes from key figures of the time. But Marylyn Wentworth, principal of the New School, said the point of introducing students and community members to the play was to simply get them thinking.

“The school provides space for local organizations,” said Wentworth. “It’s not necessarily that we agree with them, but we’re open to them being here. It’s part of what we do here. We try to give our students opportunities to see different points of view.”

She said that kids today may feel disconnected from those key figures of the ’60s due to the simple passage of time.

“They are part of the generation where these four men are myths,” said Wentworth. “This play has a tendency to make myths a little more real.”

Kehler said it’s important to keep history alive, particularly the history of such an important and eventful decade in the country’s history.

“We’re not trying to say, ”˜This is the person who did it ”“ this is who pulled the trigger,’” he said. “What we’re trying to do is raise questions, to start a discussion, to get people thinking about the truth.”

— Staff Writer Jeff Lagasse can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 319 or [email protected].