actors theatre of louisville
PLAY GUIDE
ABOUT THE
REENTRY
PLAY GUIDE
This play guide is a standards-based
resource designed to enhance your theatre
experience. Its goal is twofold: to nurture
the teaching and learning of theatre arts
and to encourage essential questions that
lead to enduring understandings of the
play’s meaning and relevance. Inside you
will find history/contextual information,
vocabulary and worksheets that lay
the groundwork of the story and build
anticipation for the performance. Oral
discussion and writing prompts encourage
your students to reflect upon their
impressions and to analyze and relate key
ideas to their personal experiences and the
world around them. These can easily be
adapted to fit most writing objectives. The
Bridgework connects theatre elements with
ideas for drama activities in the classroom
as well as integrated curriculum. We
encourage you to adapt and extend the
material in any way to best fit the needs
of your community of learners. Please
feel free to make copies of this guide, or
you may download it from our website:
ActorsTheatre.org. We hope this material,
combined with our pre-show workshops,
will give you the tools to make your time
at Actors Theatre a valuable learning
experience.
ReEntry student matinees and play guides
address specific EDUCATIONAL
OBJECTIVES:
• Students will identify or describe the
use of elements of drama in dramatic
works.
• Students will analyze how time,
place and ideas are reflected in
drama/theatre
• Students will explain how
drama/theatre fufills a variety of
purposes
If you have any questions or suggestions
regarding our play guides, please contact
Steven Rahe, Director of Education, at
502-584-1265 ext. 3045.
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
3
ReEntry Synopsis, Characters and Setting
4
Crafting ReEntry: KJ Sanchez and Emily Ackerman
5
Listening to Those in Uniform: ReEntry
6
PTSD: Wounds We Never See
7
What’s Up, Docudrama?
8-9
Iraq and Afghanistan: A War Timeline
10-11 United States Marine Corps
12
Writing Portfolio, Discussion Questions
13Bridgework
14
Other Reading and Works Cited
15
Glossary of Terms
Actors Theatre Education
Steven Rahe, Director of Education
Jacob Stoebel, Associate Director of Education
Jane B. Jones, Education Fellow
Betsy Anne Huggins, Education Intern/Teaching Artist
Dustin C.T. Morris, Education Intern/Teaching Artist
Liz Fentress, Resident Teaching Artist
Keith Mcgill, Resident Teaching Artist
Play Guide by Betsy Anne Huggins, Dustin C.T. Morris,
Molly Clasen, Dominic Finocchiaro, Steven Rahe, and
Jacob Stoebel
Graphic Design by Mary Kate Zihar
Funded in part by the New England Foundation for
the Arts’ National Theatre Pilot, with leading funding
from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Fund for the Arts
Members Agency
The Kentucky Arts Council, the
state arts agency, supports
Actors Theatre of Louisville with
state tax dolars and federal
funding from the National
Endowment for the Arts.
SYNOPSIS
CAST OF
CHARACTERS
C.O
A Commanding Officer in the
Marine Corps who gives lectures on
military reentry into civilian life.
JOHN
Joseph Harrel as C.O. in CENTERSTAGE’s production of ReEntry.
ReEntry is a docudrama, a documentary-style play that portrays
the stories of real people and events, focusing on Marines
returning home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Based
on interviews with Marines and their families, authors Emily
Ackerman and KJ Sanchez explore what it means to transition
back and forth between home and deployment and how families
cope with the transition. Characters directly address the audience
as they speak the real words of returning veterans and their
families. ReEntry does not follow a narrative plot structure.
Rather, the story unfolds as the characters discuss the joys,
challenges, and frustrations of returning home from war.
A hot-headed 32-year-old Marine
Corps Captain. Charlie and Liz’s
brother and Phyllis’s son.
CHARLIE
A conflicted 21-year-old Marine
Corps Lance-Corporal. John and
Liz’s brother and Phyllis’s son.
PHYLLIS
John, Charlie, and Liz’s supportive
58-year-old mother.
LIZ
John and Charlie’s liberal-leaning
29-year-old sister and Phyllis’s
daughter.
TOMMY
SETTING
The play takes place in a variety of locations, from a conference
room in Washington D.C. to a “Welcome Home” celebration.
Music and projections are used to create the locations.
A family man and Marine Corps
Staff Sergeant. Charlie’s mentor.
JASON
A Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel.
NICK
A Marine Corps Lance-Corporal.
KERI
A Marine Corps Corporal.
RAMON
A Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant.
REBECCA
A Conflicted Marine Corps 2nd
Lieutenant.
LISA
A Marine Corps Captain and career
Marine.
SUZANNE
The ex-wife of a Marine. From a
military background.
FRANK
The father of a Marine killed in action.
PETE
An injured, retired Gunnery
Sergeant. Maria’s husband.
MARIA
Pete’s compassionate wife.
MICHELLE
A Marine Corps 1st Lieutenant.
Sheila Tapia and PJ Sosko in a photo by Richard Anderson of CENTERSTAGE’s production
of ReEntry.
3
CRAFTING REENTRY:
KJ SANCHEZ AND EMILY ACKERMAN
ReEntry hits close to home for playwrights KJ Sanchez and
Emily Ackerman. The genesis of the work was inspired by
the two theatre-makers’ relationship with their own military
family members: Emily’s two brothers are Marines who have
deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and KJ has five brothers
who served during the Vietnam War. Through the making of
ReEntry, the two women acquired a new perspective on their
own family experiences, as well as gaining a deep insight into
the Marine experience as a whole. “Until we began writing
this play, we didn’t have a clue as to what our brothers did
in their military roles,” says Sanchez. “I’ve never been this
personally invested in a play.”
Sanchez was born and raised in Tome, New Mexico, where
her family has lived for thirteen generations. In her career,
she has distinguished herself as an actor, writer, and director,
and made her Actors Theatre of Louisville directing debut
with Heather Raffo’s 9 Parts of Desire in 2007. Other Actors
Theatre directing credits include Dan Dietz’s Lobster Boy and
Gamal Abdel Chasten’s Let Bygones Be. A former member
of SITI Company and former Associate Director of Artistic
Programs at New Dramatists, KJ is also an Associate Artist
with The Civilians, an acclaimed New York theatre company
whose investigative techniques and interview methods are
utilized in ReEntry. In April 2010, in response to requests
to tour ReEntry, KJ founded American Records, a theater
company whose mission is to create “work that serves as a
bridge between people; work that is a record of our time.”
Before founding American Records, KJ was the Associate
Artistic Director at Two River Theatre Company in Red
Bank, New Jersey, where ReEntry premiered.
“Until we began writing this play,
we didn’t have a clue as to what our
brothers did in their military roles,”
says Sanchez. “I’ve never been this
personally invested in a play.”
Director/playwright KJ Sanchez and playwright Emily Ackerman .
a company whose docudrama technique is also echoed in
ReEntry. She is also a teaching artist, specializing in workshops
on interview-based theatre; these workshops have occurred
at institutions such as The Kennedy Center and at various
colleges across the country. For Emily, ReEntry became a
poignant way of understanding the military life that her
brothers had chosen. “It took a lot of time to understand
just what my brothers were doing, why they were doing it,
and how important it was to them” she says “and that’s still
continuing.”
- Dominic Finocchiaro
Her writing partner, Emily Ackerman, is also an Associate
Artist with The Civilians, and has been seen at Actors Theatre
of Louisville as a performer in This Beautiful City and Gone
Missing. Her acting and writing credits are numerous, and
she has worked with Leigh Fondakowski, head writer of “The
Laramie Project” and members of Tectonic Theatre Project,
4
LISTENING TO THOSE IN UNIFORM:
REENTRY
“This will be the closest many of us will get to the Iraq War,”
proclaimed the Newark Star-Ledger after Two River Theatre
Company’s remarkable 2009 premiere of ReEntry. Since then,
there has been much admiration in both theatre and military
circles for this eye-opening and extraordinarily moving
theatrical event. Composed from the voices and experiences
of combat veterans, the piece is skillfully arranged to tell the
story of what the culture of the military means to them, and
the difficult transition of returning home. Drawn directly
from interviews with Marines and their families, ReEntry
brings us face to face with the permanent imprint that
deployment leaves upon individual lives and communities.
Carefully avoiding any political judgment about the war
itself, the show instead zeroes in on the real experience of
the warriors: what compels them toward national service, the
wounds they sustain, and the challenge of rejoining the loved
ones who wait for them. “ReEntry fulfills a dual mission,”
notes the New York Times, “giving civilians insight into those
serving and saying ‘We are listening’ to those in uniform.”
One key to ReEntry’s power is the unprecedented authenticity
of the language and stories related by the play’s characters,
who speak directly to us with great candor—and a good
deal of salty humor, too. Eschewing romantic Hollywood
misrepresentations as well as pity, the play’s documentary
storytelling instead favors empathy and complexity. Capturing
the real voices of servicemen and women was crucially
important for co-authors Emily Ackerman and KJ Sanchez
(also director of the production), who set out to collect
hundreds of hours of interviews with both warriors and
their families. As the sisters of combat veterans themselves,
the playwrights had a personal connection to the material,
too: Sanchez has five older brothers who served in Vietnam,
and Ackerman’s two brothers have been deployed to Iraq
and Afghanistan. Their contacts grew steadily as the duo
began making connections up and down the East Coast and
in California, traveling to military bases and conferences,
and earning trust and more leads as they went. They even
assembled a military advisory committee to give them
feedback on the play as it developed.
The result is a gripping play performed by a stellar five-actor
ensemble, which focuses on the lives of a specific constellation
of characters. Most centrally, ReEntry tells the story of a
family: John and his little brother Charlie, who follows in
John’s footsteps to enlist; their mother who is terrified to
think about her sons in harm’s way; and their liberal sister
Liz, who struggles to understand their choice and is afraid to
erase their voicemails in case she never hears from them again.
As John and Charlie return home and attempt to reconfigure
U.S. Marines after storming the beaches of Normandy.
their lives after sustaining injuries and watching friends die,
the emotional fallout hits them all.
At the same time, we meet another Marine family: a Gunnery
Sergeant whose wounds force him to retire, and his wife,
whose outward strength belies her need to cry in private.
For them, reentry means being exiled from their home,
the community of the military. And framing the play is
the Commanding Officer, who confidently explains the
reconditioning process for Marine recruits—yet as the play
unfolds, he shares the anxieties that haunt him too. A handful
of other unforgettable voices chime in as well, all supported
by multimedia projections and video—until what emerges is
a complicated composite portrait of the disconnect between
military experience and civilian life.
But ReEntry goes far beyond compelling theatrical storytelling.
It’s an example of the art form at its most impactful, serving
as a resource to galvanize conversation within communities.
In reflecting back to combat veterans their own stories and
providing civilians with a non-partisan glimpse of what our
warriors go through, the show provides a space to take a
step toward greater understanding. That’s why in addition to
attracting packed houses at “civilian” theatres in New York
City and Baltimore, the play has been embraced as a catalyst
for discussion at military facilities and conferences, winning
contracts from the Department of Defense, among others.
In fact, the play’s mix of documentary authenticity, virtuosic
storytelling, and clear affection for its characters touches a
raw nerve everywhere it goes. For as one riveted reviewer for
Backstage put it, this is “high-wattage theatre that forces us to
look into ourselves by peering deeply into the souls of others.”
- Amy Wegener
5
PTSD:
WOUNDS WE NEVER SEE
T
The personal stories that were told to Emily Ackerman and KJ
Sanchez as they conducted research for ReEntry were taken from
the real-life experiences of Marines returning to civilian life after
service in Iraq and Afghanistan. The stories of Tommy, John, and
Suzanne’s ex-husband, Jess, reveal Marines dealing with Combat
Operational Stress and various forms of Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder, commonly refered to as PTSD, which is a trauma-related
anxiety disorder. PTSD commonly affects veterans of war returning
from combat stressed environments and prolonged exposure to
traumatic events. Those afflicted with the disorder re-experience
traumatic events through triggered memory flashbacks or
nightmares and avoid crowed places, loud noises, or other stressful
environments that may replay a past episode of war.
While the diagnosis of PTSD is relatively new, the disorder itself
has a long history with veterans. In the past it has been referred
to as “shell shock,” “battle fatigue,” or “post-Vietnam syndrome.”
Through recent studies we are now able to address the psychological
needs of warriors returning home with these traumas. Since the
beginning of the American occupation in Iraq, our government has
spent more resources in aiding returning warriors with PTSD than
in any previous wars. There are now programs that include support
groups, therapy with specialists, psychiatric prescriptions, and more.
“I think we all come back with some amount of
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. You can’t not.”
– C.O., ReEntry
Unfortunately, PTSD often carries a stigma within the military.
Service members, expected to overcome fear, often neglect reporting
their condition to protect their military career. While official studies
taken by the Department of Veterans Affairs show that 13 percent
of veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan report to
having PTSD, the actual number is undoubtedly higher.
“Unfortunately, in the vast majority of cases, when a veteran comes
forward for help, it’s usually when they’re in extremely bad shape,”
says Dr. Craig Bryan, lead consultant to the Marine Corps’ suicide
prevention program. In a interview with Terry Gross on her NPR
talk show, Fresh Air, Bryan explains that “the military culture is not
quite amenable in going and asking for help from others...Right
now in the military, depending on the branch of service, about
three-quarters of service members who kill themselves never come
into a mental health provider [and] never reach out and ask for
help. They’re out there somewhere but most of us don’t know where
they’re at.”
Adding to the tragedy of silence and lack of awareness are the
destructive behaviors many warriors afflicted by PTSD turn to
in their time of need. Ignorant of their symptoms or too afraid
to seek help, often address the disorder with reckless behavior,
gambling, or severe drug and/or alcohol abuse. These destructive
6
Photograph by Joe Raedle, Getty Images
coping mechanisms make medical treatment more complicated
and imperative, and can unfortunately overshadow the underlying
problem.
“Unfortunately, in the vast majority of cases, when
a veteran comes forward for help, it’s usually when
they’re in extremely bad shape,” says Dr. Craig
Bryan, lead consultant to the Marine Corps’ suicide
prevention program.
Our country’s current conflict will not be our last. As more and
more of our warriors return from the battlefield with their minds
replaying horrific images of the war they have witnessed, it is
important that we do not ignore the warning signs of PTSD. We
must acknowledge the existence of this disorder, and understand
it as an invisible wound which, like all wounds, needs proper care
to heal.
- Dustin C.T. Morris
WHAT’S UP,
DOCUDRAMA?
We are living in a renaissance
T
of documentary theatre, a
type of live performance
that utilizes interviews,
government documents,
video footage, trial
transcripts, and/or historical
writing to address cultural
and social questions.
ReEntry is situated in a long
tradition of documentary
theatre. The first movement
involved the Federal Theater
Project (FTP), a governmentfunded theatre program that
created jobs during the Great
Depression. FTP’s most
Example of a Living Newspaper.
controversial productions
were Living Newspapers, reenactments of news stories motivated by
clear political agendas. The second movement occurred during the
1960s and included multiple plays that sought to explore history
from previously underrepresented perspectives. For example, Peter
Weiss’s The Investigation (1963) reenacted transcripts from the
Auschwitz trials, letting horrific accounts of the Holocaust speak
directly to audiences across time, without alteration.
The current movement of documentary theatre is comprised mainly
of docudramas. Docudramas are crafted from interviews, creating
a platform where real people’s stories can be heard. As a form,
the docudrama offers a particularly effective way to engage with
controversial topics because artists can explore multiple points of
view onstage without privileging one over the others. Docudramas
can humanize issues that the media tends to politicize, conveying
people’s personal experiences through their own words rather than
through the editorial filter of a newspaper article or televised news
report.
Perhaps the most famous example of a docudrama is The Laramie
Project, which examines the brutal murder of gay college student
Matthew Shepard. In the eighteen months following Shepard’s
death, playwright Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic
Theatre Project traveled to Laramie, Wyoming and interviewed
community members about the recent tragedy and their opinions
about homosexuality. The play had a successful Off-Broadway run in
2001 and has since been produced by over 2,000 theatres worldwide.
By weaving interviews into a poignant script, creators of The
Laramie Project started national and international conversations
about gay and lesbian civil rights. The production’s popularity also
garnered support for the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate
Crimes Prevention Act, which
designated any assault based on
sexual orientation or gender as
a federal hate crime.
Despite docudrama’s social
impact, it is important to
acknowledge the contradictions
inherent in the form. The
actors onstage are not the
interviewees and can thus only
imitate—not duplicate—the
original source, leaving room
for artistic interpretation.
Matthew Shepard
Similarly, by splicing the
interviews together, a playwright eliminates certain voices and
comments while drawing attention to others. Though artists may
strive to represent a range of views without bias, absolute impartiality
is impossible.
Nevertheless, docudrama is a powerful form of theatre that
attempts to capture conversations around an issue and ask pressing
contemporary questions. By exploring multiple points of view while
telling a coherent story, docudramas can bridge opposing opinions
and inspire social change, both on and off stage.
- Molly Clasen
Did you know?
At one point, the Federal Theatre Project
employed around 12,700 people. About fifty
percent of FTP personnel were actors. The
remaining half included writers, designers,
theater musicians, dancers, stage hands, box
office staff, ushers, maintenance workers,
and the accounting and secretarial staff. FTP
was Federal Government’s largest and most
ambitious effort in history to produce theater
events.
7
SPOTLIGHT ON IRAQ: A TIMELINE
FOLLOW THE ARROWS
SEPTEMBER 11, 2011
The Islamist militant organization,
Al-Qaeda, hijacked four commercial
airliners, two are flown into the Twin
Towers of the World Trade Center,
one into the Pentagon, and the other
crashes in Pennsylvania after the passengers fight to regain control.
MARCH 19, 2003
48 hours after demanding
that Iraqi president, Saddam
Hussein, leave office, the
United States begins bombing
the capital city of Baghdad.
President George W. Bush
announces that United States
troops have been deployed in
Iraq to search for Weapons of
Mass Destruction (WMDs).
APRIL 28, 2004
MAY 28, 2004
Iyad Alawi is elected as the interim
Prime Minister of Iraq.
Pictures of soldiers torturing and
humiliating the inmates of Abu
Ghraib prison compound are
released to the public. There is an
immediate public outcry and an
investigation into the treatment
of prisoners of war.
MARCH 21, 2003
First American casualties are
reported. Lance Corporal Jose
Gutierrez, 22, is killed by friendly
fire in Umm Qasr, in southern
Iraq.
MARCH 31, 2004
Al-Qaeda sends suicide bombers
to holy sites in Baghdad and
Karbala, killing hundreds of
civilians.
4 U.S. Contractors are killed, and
their bodies are burned and hung
from a bridge sparking immediate
world-wide attention.
SEPTEMBER 6, 2004
U.S. death toll reaches 1,000
NOVEMBER 2, 2004
President Bush is reelected to a
second term.
NOVEMBER 15, 2004
Marines re-establish control over
Fallujah.
NOVEMBER 4, 2008
Barack Obama is elected the 44th
President of the United States. He
vows to withdraw combat troops
in Iraq within 16 months of taking
office.
APRIL 26, 2007
George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Nancy Pelosi.
DECEMBER 2007
U.S. Senate proposes October 1st as
the deadline for withdrawing U.S.
troops from Iraq. President George
W. Bush vetoes the proposal.
U.S. death toll reaches 4,000
DECEMBER 2009
FEBRUARY 1, 2009
Shepard Fairey’s iconic
Obama campaign poster.
8
President Obama plans to leave
35,000 to 50,000 soldiers and
Marines to train and advise the Iraqi
security forces by 2011.
Casualties this year reach a record
low since the start of the war.
MAY 1, 2003
President George W. Bush
announces an end to all major
combat operations in Iraq.
JULY 22, 2003
Hussein’s sons, Uday and Qusay,
are killed in a U.S. raid.
AUGUST 19, 2003
A suicide bomber drives an
explosives-rigged cement truck into
UN headquarters in baghdad, Iraq.
DECEMBER 14, 2003
Hussein is found hiding in a hole
near his hometown of Tikrit, Iraq.
Photo by J. Scott Applewhite
JANUARY 17, 2004
U.S. death toll reaches 500
JANUARY 24, 2004
Bush administration announces
no WMDs were found in Iraq.
Saddam Hussein
JANUARY 30, 2005
Iraqis vote in their first elections in
50 years.
MAY 2005
Estimated civilian death toll reaches
25,000
OCTOBER 15, 2005
Iraqis vote to declare Iraq an Islamic
Federal Republic.
DECEMBER 30, 2006
Photo by Sabah Arar, Getty Images
Hussein is found guilty of war
crimes and is executed by hanging.
OCTOBER 21, 2005
U.S. death toll reaches 2,000
APRIL 15, 2007
Pentagon extends military
deployment in Iraq to 15 months.
NOVEMBER 2011
American forces remain in Iraq
and continue to advise the Iraqi
military.
MAY 2, 2011
AUGUST 31, 2010
After more than seven years of
war, 4,400 U.S. military deaths,
and tens of thousands of Iraqi
civilians killed, the U.S. ends all
major combat operations.
Osama bin Laden, leader of
Al-Qaeda, is killed in Pakistan
by U.S. operatives.
U.S. troops greet Iraqi citizens.
- Dustin C.T. Morris
9
UNITED STATES MARINE CORP
WHAT IS THE U.S. MARINE CORPS?
The U.S. Marine Corps is one of the five service branches of the U.S.
Military, along with the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard.
Though under the civilian jurisdiction of the U.S. Navy, the Marine
Corps maintains its own military leadership allowing it to function as an
independent branch of the Armed Forces. The Marine Corps is trained
in amphibious combat, military operations launched from sea to shore,
but also serves as an elite overseas, or expeditionary, force. The Corps
is the “first to fight,” as they have the ability to initiate any ship-toshore operation in under six hours and are capable of simultaneously
launching air, sea, and ground maneuvers.
The official emblem of the U.S. Marine Corps features an
eagle, anchor, and globe.
MARINE CORPS RANKS
The Marine Corps divides its service members into hierarchical ranks listed in increasing order of authority from Enlisted to
Commissioned Officer. Enlisted service people make up the bulk of the Marine Corps and typically commit to four years of service.
They are 17-29 years old and range in rank from Private to Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps. Commissioned Officers (C.O. s)
are Marine Corps leaders who have earned and accepted an appointment issued in the name of the President of the United States.
Officers have either completed or are taking coursework towards a Bachelor’s Degree. They rank from Second Lieutenant to a four
star General.
ENLISTED
OFFICER
PRIVATE
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS
LANCE CORPORAL
CORPORAL
SERGEANT
STAFF SERGEANT
GUNNERY SERGEANT
MASTER SERGEANT
FIRST SERGEANT
MASTER GUNNERY SERGEANT
SERGEANT MAJOR
SERGEANT MAJOR OF THE MARINE CORPS
SECOND LIEUTENANT
FIRST LIEUTENANT
CAPTAIN
MAJOR
LIEUTENANT COLONEL
COLONEL
BRIGADIER GENERAL
MAJOR GENERAL
LIEUTENANT GENERAL
GENERAL
Corporal insignia
10
Gunnery Sergeant insignia
Colonel insignia
General insignia
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
NICKNAMES
LEATHERNECKnds
Named after the
leather collar on the
Marine Corps uniform
from 1798-1872
DEVIL DOGS
A term coined by the
German Army during
World War I to describe
the Marine’s fighting style. It’s now the Marine
Corps’ unofficial mascot.
An antique leather neckpiece from
the old USMC uniform.
USMC mascot, the Devil Dog
MARINE CORPS MOTTO
Semper Fidelis
A Latin term meaning “Always Faithful,”
abbreviated by the Marine Corps as Semper Fi.
Did you know?
The United States Marines
shout out a spirited Ooh-rah cry
as a greeting or to show
an enthusiasm.
USMC’s offical motto, “Semper Fi.”
- Betsy Anne Huggins
11
WRITING PORTFOLIO
PERSONAL
ReEntry is the story of Marines coming
home from Iraq and Afghanistan and
integrating who they were before the war
with the reality of their service. The Marines
struggle to adapt to their new environment
as they try to find a place where they
belong. Write about a time that you had
to assimilate to a new or different setting,
be it a new community, a new school, or
a new town. Did you fit in? Were you
accepted? How did you navigate your new
surroundings?
TRANSACTIVE
ReEntry tells the true stories of Marines who
fought in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
and their families. Watch a movie or
documentary about Marines or soldiers in
Iraq and Afghanistan, such as “The Hurt
Locker” or “Gunner Palace” or read a
book like Last One In by Nicholas Kulish.
Compare the presentation of war in ReEntry
with another medium. How does ReEntry
compare with other presentations of the
war in Iraq and Afghanistan? Which story
was told more effectively? Did the mode of
story-telling affect how you experienced the
account?
LITERARY
Put yourself in the shoes of a returning
veteran and pretend that you are coming
back from deployment. Write a journal
entry from the perspective of a returning
Marine using sensory details to describe
your home. What did you miss most? The
people? The smells? The food? What are
some sights and smells that you encounter
every day that would be more vivid upon
coming home? What do you take for
granted in your life?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
PRE-SHOW QUESTIONS
POST-SHOW QUESTIONS
1. Docudrama is a style of theatre in which historical events are
1. One topic brought up in ReEntry is how the Iraq and
2. ReEntry explores many pressing issues currently facing American
2. Adaptors KJ Sanchez and Emily Ackerman interviewed several
portrayed using the words of people involved in the experience.
Do you think docudrama could be an effective means of telling
the story of Marines involved in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?
What do you expect to see onstage? How might it differ from what
you see on the news?
troops, such as the stigma of war time service, the portrayal of
war in the media, and the treatment of PTSD, through the lens
of docudrama. Brainstorm with your class other topics that could
be explored onstage through docudrama. What are other concerns
America is facing today? Are some subjects better suited for
docudrama than others? Why?
12
Afghanistan wars are portrayed by the media and in books and
film. Did ReEntry confirm or challenge how U.S. involvement in
the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is currently depicted in the media
and in other cultural mediums? Do you believe that the media
accurately and objectively depicts the war?
Marines and their family members to create ReEntry using a style of
theatre called Docudrama. If you were working with KJ and Emily
to conduct more interviews of returning veterans, what questions
would you ask? What voices would you include in your interview
that KJ and Emily did not include? KJ and Emily also had to be
careful not to “lead” the Marine’s answers or impose their own
viewpoints on their interview subjects. How would you maintain a
neutral voice while conducting interviews?
BRIDGEWORK
BUILDING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN STAGE AND CLASSROOM
The following exercises combine creative drama, theatre concepts and core content to connect the
theatre experience with drama activities in your classroom.
By exploring drama as a mode of learning, students strengthen skills for creative problem solving, imagination and critical thinking.
AT YOUR DESK ACTIVITIES
Show Your
Appreciation:
Operation Gratitude is a
non-profit organization
whose mission is to show
appreciation and support
to members of the armed
forces. Visit Operation
Show support, send a letter!
Gratitude’s website at
www.operationgratitude.com, and find out how you can show your
appreciation and send a letter to a U.S. Service Member.
Make your own Docudrama:
The collection of stories that are told in ReEntry are directly taken
from interviews with Marines and their families. Interview one of
your teachers about their role at your school. What are some of
things they do at the school besides teach? How long have they been
a teacher? What are the most memorable moments of their career?
Write a monologue based on the personal stories they have shared
with you.
ON YOUR FEET ACTIVITIES
Agree or Disagree:
Have two students stand on opposite sides of the classroom. One
of these students will represent “Agreed” and the other “Disagree”.
Now, ask the remaining students questions about their personal
feeling on our current conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan such as;
“Should injured Marines returning from war receive free health
care?” Then, have them stand in between “Agree” and “Disagree”.
Based on where they stand, facilitate an in class dialogue about the
current conflict.
You Gotta See This:
A huge theme in ReEntry is the art of storytelling. Pick a group
of 4-6 students and have all but one leave the room. With the
remaining student, and the rest of the class, make up a three
sentence story, the crazier the better. Then, invite one student back
in and have the first student act out the story. Now invite another
student back into the room and have the student that watched the
story retell what they saw. Do this again until all the students that
where sent outside have had a chance to either tell or enact the story.
Once you reach the last student, have all the participants tell what
they thought the story was about, starting from the last story and
working backwards to the original.
CROSS-CURRICULAR
CONNECTIONS
History:
The United States has a long history of conflict with several countries
in the Middle East and Central Asia, too long for them all to fit in
just one timeline. Research these relationships and create your own
timelines. How far back does this relationship go? What are some of
the things in our past that have influenced this relationship now?
Geography:
The Marine Corps War Memorial outside Arlington, Virginia, based
on Joe Rosenthal’s famous photograph of Marines raising the flag at
Iwo Jima during WWII.
Since the start of the war, Iraq has become one of the most
dangerous nations in the Middle East. With the help of community
classroom building programs like ePals Global Community at www.
epals.com, connect with a classroom in Iraq. Discuss the differences
in our cultures and the many similarities. Begin a pen pal program
with some of the students you meet. Share your own personal stories
and build a sustainable friendship with someone on the other side of
the world.
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IF YOU LIKED REENTRY...
BOOKS
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Going After Cacciato by Tim O’Brien
The Harp of Burma by Michio Takeyama
The Regeneration Trilogy by Pat Barker
PLAYS
Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo by Rajiv Joseph
Black Watch by Gregory Burke
Dying City by Christopher Shinn
Journey’s End by R.C. Sherriff
WORKS CITED
“About the Laramie Project.” The Laramie Project. Web. 12 Sept. 2011. <http://www.laramieproject.org/about/>.
American Records: A Theater Company. American Records Theater. Web. Sept. 1 2011.
Bartel, Jordan. “Q&A: Writer Emily Ackerman on Telling Marines’” Centerstage.org. The Baltimore Sun,
10 Nov. 2010. Web. 7 Sept. 2011. <http://
www.centerstage.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=Ewk5/
N1Rr6M%3D&tabid=106>.
Chesek, Tom. “A ‘ReEntry,’ A Sense of Home.” Red Bank Orbit.
Jan. 19 2009. Web. Sept. 1 2011.
Cohen, Robert. Theatre: Brief Version. Third ed.
Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Pub., 1994.
Odendahl-James, Jules. A Brief History of American Documentary Theatre. Mike Wiley Productions, 2011. PDF.
Marines: The Few, The Proud. Web.
8 September 2011. <http://www.marines.com/#default>.
Pressley, Nelson. “‘ReEntry’ finesses the appeals, hazards of a military lifestyle.” The Washington Post. 22 Nov. 2010.
“Psychologist Craig Bryan: Treating Vets For PTSD.” Fresh Air. NPR. 8 Nov. 2010. NPR. Web. Transcript. 12 Sept. 2011.
<http://www.npr.org/‌templates/‌story/‌story.
php?storyId=131096642>.
Sanchez, KJ. “Joining Forces.” American Theatre.
July/August 2011: 56-59.
Sturkey, Marion F. Warrior Culture of the U.S. Marines: Axioms for Warriors, Marine Quotations, Battle History, Reflections on Combat, Corps Legacy, Humor- and much more- for the World’ Warrior Elite.
14
FILM
Armadillo (2010) dir. Janus Metz Pedersen
Gunner Palace (2004) dirs. Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker
The Hurt Locker (2008) dir. Kathryn Bigelow
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience (2007) dir.
Richard Robbins
Restrepo (2010) dirs. Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
Stop-Loss (2008) dir. Kimberly Peirce
WEB
Comw.org/WarReport-by the Project on Defense Alternatives
WarPoetry.co.uk
Plum Brach, South Carolina: Heritage Press International, 2002.
“Theatre of Fact.” Http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/
Documentary+theatre.
“The Great Depression and the Arts.” New Deal Network. Web.
07 Sept. 2011. <http://newdeal.feri.org/nchs/lesson04.
htm>.
“The Federal Theatre Project.” Nova Online Home Page. Northern Virginia Community College, 17 Nov. 2007. Web. 12 Sept. 2011. <http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/spd130et/fed
eraltheatre.htm>.
Weiner, Rachel. “Hate Crimes Bill Signed Into Law 11 Years After Matthew Shepard’s Death.” Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Huffington Post,
18 Mar. 2010. Web. 07 Sept. 2011. <http://www.
huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/28/hate-crimes-bill-to-be-
si_n_336883.html>.
GLOSSARY
AMBIEN
prescription medication used to treat
insomnia.
BETHESDA
city in Maryland most known as the site of
the National Institutes of Health and the
Walter Reed National Military Medical
Center.
C.O.
stands for “Commanding Officer.” The
C.O. is the officer in command of a
military unit, typically with ultimate
authority over that unit.
CONVOY
a group of vehicles traveling together for
support and protection.
FALLUJAH
Iraqi city 43 miles west of Baghdad and
the site of fighting during Operation
Iraqi Freedom. Known as Iraq’s “city of
mosques,” it is home to more than 200.
The U.S. Army first entered Fallujah in
April 2003 and has since staged numerous
operations to gain and hold control of the
city, including Operation Vigilant Resolve,
Operation Phantom Fury, and Operation
Al Fajr. The highest point of conflict in
Fallujah occurred during the Second Battle
of Fallujah, which was led by the U.S.
Marine Corps in November and December
2004. The Second Battle of Fallujah
remains the bloodiest battle of the Second
Gulf War and the first fought solely against
insurgents rather than government forces.
GENERATION KILL
2004 book by Evan Wright chronicling his
experience as an embedded reporter with
the Marines during the 2003 invasion of
Iraq, originally published in Rolling Stone
magazine. Made into a 2008 HBO miniseries.
a military gas-operated AR-15 assault rifle.
MARK-19
also known as an MK-19. A belt-fed automatic grenade launcher that was first used in
the Vietnam War.
GULF WAR
OPERATION
IRAQI FREEDOM
The Persian Gulf War (1990-91), a war
waged by U.N. authorized coalition forces
against Iraq in response to their invasion
and annexation of Kuwait. Also known as
Operation Desert Storm.
Official name of the Second Gulf
War, begun in March 2003 after
allegations were made that Iraq was
in possession of weapons of mass
destruction. The operation led to
the eventual capture and execution
of former Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein.
GUNNY
nickname for a Gunnery Sergeant, a noncommissioned officer typically in charge
of coordinating logistics for a company of
Marines.
IED
Stands for “improvised explosive
device.” IED’s are roadside or
homemade bombs constructed and
deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. They are
often utilized in terrorist warfare or
by guerrilla and commando forces.
Used extensively against coalition
forces in the Second Gulf War—66%
of coalition casualties have been
caused by IED’s.
Operation Iraqi Freedon
PROZAC
antidepressant used to treat depression,
obsessive-compulsive disorder, bulimia, and
panic disorder.
PUP TENT
GATES OF FIREStands
1998 novel by Steven Pressfield
detailing the Battle of Thermopylae
fought in 480 BC between Greek
city-states and the invading Persian
army. On the Commandant of
the Marine Corps’ reading list and
taught at West Point, Annapolis, and
the Marine Corps Basic School at
Quantico. The Battle of Thermopylae
is often used as an example of
training and use of terrain and as a
symbol of courage.
M16
Improvised Explosive Devices (IED’s)
Wedge-shaped tent without floors or
windows.
PURPLE HEART
JARHEAD
2003 Gulf War memoir by Marine Anthony
Swofford. Made into a 2005 film starring
Jake Gyllenhaal. A jarhead is a nickname for
Marine personnel, referring to their regulation haircut.
KUWAIT
Arab nation in the northeast of the Arabian
Peninsula bordered by Saudi Arabia and
Iraq. Kuwait was invaded and annexed by
Iraq in 1990, but regained sovereignty in
1991.
U.S. military decoration awarded to
wounded or killed soldiers.
RPG
Stands for “rocket propelled grenade.” A
shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon that fires
rockets equipped with explosive warheads.
SECOND LIEUTENANTS
Junior commissioned officer. Commands
between 16 and 44 Marines.
15
SPONSORED BY THE NORTON FOUNDATION,
MARK YOUR CALENDARS:
NEW VOICES
YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL
TUESDAY, APRIL 17 AT 7 P.M.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18 AT 7 P.M.
BINGHAM THEATRE
FREE! (BUT TICKETS ARE REQUIRED)
Catch world premieres of ten-minute plays written by young playwrights from around our region, performed
by the Acting Apprentice Company. Not to be missed!
Tickets are required. Call the box office at 584-1205 or pick them up in person at 316 West Main Street.
Fund for the Arts
Members Agency