Theatre to stage WikiLeaks' Assange life story

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will have his life story immortalised in a stage play in his home country of Australia, a report said Sunday. Rehearsals are due to start this week for "Stainless Steel Rat" by award-winning Melbourne playwright Ron Elisha, which will tell the story of a director making a film of Assange's life. Key players in the Wikileaks drama, including US President Barack Obama and the Swedish woman who has accused Assange of sexual misconduct, will be depicted, the Sun-Herald said. The newspaper called it the world's first "wikiplay", opening in Sydney ahead of several Hollywood films which are reportedly in the pipeline. Director Wayne Harrison said it would be "quirky, funny and controversial". "This is a compelling story of an Australian who is changing the world right now. It can't wait. It has to be produced as quickly as possible," he said. Local actor Darren Weller will play Assange, head of the whistleblowing website that has published thousands of cables in which US diplomats give their often candid views on world leaders, to Washington's acute embarrassment. It has also leaked countless secret documents about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.