The lights in the Bowlus auditorium dimmed just after 7 p.m. on Tuesday for the Griffin Theatre Company’s production of “Letters Home,” a play inspired by the real-life correspondence exchanged between soldiers and their families during our recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Set against a black backdrop, the stage design for the Chicago-based company’s production was minimal: a spotlight hovered downstage, into which each actor, dressed in military fatigues, entered in turn to deliver their letter in the form of a dramatic monologue. A projector screen behind the soldier displayed their name, rank, unit and age.
The play, entirely without plot, accumulates its emotional power by allowing the audience to eavesdrop on the private admissions of these 10 young men and women, none of whom are older than 30.
When we meet Staff sergeant Aaron White, for example, he is writing to his wife and newborn daughter, Brianna. He is full of optimism for his mission in Kuwait and flush with the pride of recent fatherhood. He remembers his daughter being born at Camp Pendleton, “such a happy baby.” “It breaks my heart to have to miss your first birthday. I hope that you’ll forgive me. Please know that I would be there if at all possible. I believe we’re doing a good thing here, and I miss you constantly.”
The play doesn’t only dwell on the heartache of separation, however. Letters presented over the course of the hour reflect the full menu of a soldier’s often contradictory experiences in war: camaraderie, prankishness, faith in God, exhilaration in battle, disgust at living conditions, boredom in between missions, urges toward brutality, loneliness, compassion for and charity toward the native population.
But of course, in war, grief is never entirely off-stage and we do find out by play’s end, as Sgt. White steps back into the spotlight, that he was indeed killed in action, two days after his daughter’s first birthday.
According to the company’s artistic director, William Massolia, the play, kicking off its 2014/15 schedule in Iola, has been touring the country since 2008.
Fewer than 50 turned out for the Tuesday evening event, which happened to coincide with the first night of the World Series. The play received a standing ovation and nearly all stayed for the question-and-answer session with the cast.
The production was sponsored by the Sleeper Family Trust.
‘Letters’ moving depiction of war
