Re Entry

Nov. 6, 2015

GIVING THE AUDIENCE A TASTE OF MILITARY LIFE

Audiences won’t be going through basic training or learning how to disarm explosives, but after seeing “ReEntry” at the City Opera House this February, they may leave with a better understanding of what life in the military is like.

Written by two women who grew up in military families, the play is culled from hundreds of interviews with military officials, service members, siblings and parents.

They discussed the experience of being in the military and what it was like to come home and attempt to fit into the civilian world.

Playwrights Emily Ackerman and KJ Sanchez boiled down the interviews into a stage play featuring the stories of U.S. Marines and members of their families. The docudrama explores the challenges of re-entering family, community and country with honesty and occasional humor.

“ReEntry” will be presented Feb. 28 at the City Opera House in Traverse City, as well as at its parent organization, the Wharton Center at Michigan State University, Feb. 26 and 27. Producer and director Bert Goldstein called the play “cathartic and informative.”

He noted that the past decade has seen many veterans return from conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq; they face the challenge of trying to reintegrate themselves with society. “I think the play chronicles it really well,” he said.

“ReEntry“ is being performed as a staged reading, rather than a complete theatrical production. Goldstein said the drama comes from the script, rather than action.

“The form is text; this play is largely a collection of monologues. It lends itself to that [a staged reading]. It’s fully acted, with minimal costuming, no scenery, very little lighting. There will be a soundtrack; I’ve hired a sound designer,” he said.

Regardless of the minimal production value, the work packs an emotional punch, one the actors rehearse to capture, rather than a cold reading from the script.

“You can spend time with the psychology of the character. There’s no pressure to stage it; what I can really do is sit with the actor and hone in,” said Goldstein.

The characters include veterans with PTSD and family members.

“We have an obligation to portray it realistically,” said Goldstein.

The main characters are C.O., a stoic and steely full colonel who allows his vulnerability to show occasionally; Pete, a retired gunnery sergeant whose injuries include his eyes; Maria, his strong and faithful wife whose devotion to him and the military is unquestioned; John, a captain both charming and mildly terrifying who has everything under control (until he doesn’t); his younger brother John, a lance corporal, whose mood swings surprise those who know his joyful side; their sister Liz, trying to understand what her brothers are going through; Mom, supportive of all three of her children; Tommy, a Marine Corps staff sergeant, chill, yet a bad-ass; and Suzanne, a proud military wife from a military family.

Goldstein said interest in the production extends beyond a typical theatre audience, particularly to veterans and families of veterans.

“We’ve already sold a lot of tickets — for a staged reading that we haven’t advertised. It tends to attract an audience interested in the subject matter, rather than the normal theater-goer,” he said. “The buzz is getting out there. People are interested.”

There will be a panel discussion with veterans following the play in both locations.

The show has previously been performed in New Jersey (where it debuted) and off-Broadway, as well as in Baltimore, Kentucky and California. It has also been presented at numerous military facilities, including VA hospitals.

While this production is currently slated for three performances, Goldstein acknowledged he would be amenable to additional shows if the circumstances were right.

“We want to see how it goes. There may be a life for it afterwards,” he said.

Whatever and wherever the audience, Goldstein is hopeful the show will help all people involved better cope with the aftereffects of deployment in a war zone.

“There’s a lot these veterans are going through,” he said.