There’s an interesting play being put on over in Berkeley, California, that’s being described as “a performance collage of the words of American soldiers in or returned from Iraq and the families of some of the war’s casualties.”, says the San Francisco Chronicle.
Bryan Catherman did an excellent write up of the play here. He was lucky enough to see it a few weeks ago and met with some of the actors and director before and after the production. As for me, a five hour flight from Chicago to San Francisco is a bit too far for me to journey for just one show. (Unless perhaps it was on someone else’s tab?)
I admit that my attention to this “off-off broadway play” is more than just a kinship to my fellow veterans. Even though I find myself deeply moved by the project, the honest truth is that I’m actually a “character” in it.
gasp.
I found myself hyperventilating a bit when I listened to a radio interview conducted with the director, John Wilk, and actors Gregory Rowe, Maria Leigh, and Adam Morgan.
Please check out the interview here. I encourage you to pay special attention at minutes 9:25 and 14:25 of the interview (hint: Jami Gibbs = Ms. Babble). This may actually be the first time I’ve ever been publicly deconstructed. It’s very surreal to say the least and I’m very humbled by it.
The piece of mine that the actress is monologuing in this interview is called “Eden“. And in the stage performance, two additional pieces are used called “Tower Duty” and “Normal Boogers“. Also included in the performance are a handful of other great military writers/bloggers. Here are some links to their exceptional work:
- The Blog of War by Matthew Currier Burden
- Here, Bullet by Brian Turner
- Warrior Writers edited by Drew Cameron
- Letters From The Front Linesedited by Stuart Platt and Duffrey Sigurdson
- Charles Ziegenfus’ Blog
- Lee Kelly’sWordsmith At War
- Mary Cahill’s Life After Iraq
- Neil Prakash’s Armor Geddon
- General Milblogs at Blackfive
The performance just wrapped up a month long stint at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, Berkeley, California.
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