Noah Wyle to Play Captain Kirk in One-Night Star Trek Reading

Noah Wyle, star of the HBO medical drama The Pitt, will play Captain James T. Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise for one night. The Writers Guild Foundation is hosting a benefit reading of a famous Star Trek episode featuring several cast members from The Pitt.

WGF RetroReads Presents: Star Trek 60th happens on August 30 to support the foundation operations. The event features a script from the foundation script archive for “The Man Trap”. “The Man Trap” was the first episode of Star Trek to air and originated from series creator Gene Roddenberry. The horror-focused episode follows Captain Kirk, Spock, and enterprise crew members visiting a remote outpost and encountering a shapeshifting monster.

Noah Wyle takes the role of Kirk alongside Taylor Dearden, who plays Mel on The Pitt and portrays Spock for the reading. Additional Pitt cast members participating include Katherine LaNasa as Dana, Fiona Dourif as Dr. McKay, Shabana Azeez as Dr. Javadi, and Ayesha Harris as Dr. Ellis, though their specific character assignments remain unannounced. A live score accompanies the reading alongside a replica of the Salt Vampire monster on loan from the Star Trek Archive. The organization selected “The Man Trap” because Star Trek premiered in 1966, matching the founding year of the Writers Guild Foundation. Gene Roddenberry also served as a founding board member of the organization.

The event starts at 7 p.m. PT at the Lodge Room in Los Angeles. In-person tickets cost $66 and livestream tickets cost $20. Currently, only two Star Trek shows remain on the air, which are Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy. Strange New Worlds concludes with its fifth season and Starfleet Academy concludes after its second season, which will leave television without any active Star Trek series for the first time since 2017.

Source: Polygon