A ‘ReENTRY,’ A SENSE OF HOME
Two River Theater Company’s KJ Sanchez directed and co-wrote ReENTRY, a much-anticipated portrait of returning war veterans, and the world premiere of TRTC’s first entirely home-grown work for the stage.
By TOM CHESEK
Tomorrow night, as a flurry of Inaugural Balls herald the arrival of a new president — and an incoming administration assumes the burden of two inherited wars — the people of Red Bank’s Two River Theater will give the first public performance of a new dramatic work that’s significant in many ways — not the least of which is that it offers an unprecedented, uncensored and unembellished portrait of the American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Written by the company’s Associate Artistic Director KJ Sanchez and Emily Ackerman, ReEntry is especially significant for being the world premiere of the first fully original project commissioned by the TRTC. For the theater’s first offering of 2009, Sanchez and Ackerman have taken an unflinching look at the challenges faced by veterans in their attempts to reconnect with loved ones, and re-assimilate into a society that seems far removed from their war.
As audiences will doubtless discover for themselves, ReEntry is just as far removed from anything resembling conventional stage fare. Sanchez and Ackerman’s script is almost entirely composed of the words of actual service men and women, their commanding officers and family members.
It’s the result of hundreds of hours of interviews conducted by the authors, both of whom have combat veterans in their immediate families — and who have focused here upon “one memorable family” of Marines and their relatives, in reporting an emotionally charged story of conflict and closure.
Told through monologues and multi-media elements against a set that is assembled as the play progresses, ReEntry centers around two combat-vet brothers (Bobby Moreno, PJ Sosko), one of whom is “falling apart” from post traumatic stress disorder. Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris plays Mom and Sheila Tapia plays Liz. Also portrayed are a seriously injured husband and his wife, and a high-ranking officer with a passion for training “boots” to become effective warriors.
Perhaps most interesting of all is the sole non-Equity actor in the cast — Joseph Harrell, a New Jersey native and Marine veteran who served as a drill instructor with the Corps, and who brings an authenticity to the project that Sanchez, who also directs, describes as “absolutely breathtaking.” Taking that authenticity to the next level, Harrell was assigned to put his fellow actors through private “boot camp” sessions prior to each rehearsal.
Red Bank Orbit met with Sanchez during a rare stand-down moment, on the eve of one of the most anticipated premieres in memory.
Drill Baby Drill: Ex-Marine drill instructor Joseph Harrell conducted “boot camp’ for fellow cast members Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris, Bobby Moreno, PJ Sosko and Sheila Tapia.
RED BANK ORBIT: The story of how you conceived and assembled this play is a drama in itself, and one of the most interesting things was that you made your cast go through boot camp training. Where did this take place?
KJ SANCHEZ: In the parking lot, outside the theater. Joe, who was a real Marine drill instructor, put us through “boot camp” out in the parking lot — doing push-ups, drills, running until we got sick.
You said “we;” did you take part in these exercises too?
I did! I couldn’t ask any of the actors to do it without me doing it too. We had a “safe word” to use in case of emergency, but I would hand the reins over to Joe. The first hour and a half of rehearsal is training, complete with the songs and everything — we even went on a five-mile run the other day.
Were you inspired to some extent by The Laramie Project, or the oral history sort of projects that the late great Studs Terkel did?
I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never seen a production of The Laramie Project. But Studs Terkel was a definite inspiration. He said that listening to people is enough; if you take a little time, you find that people are amazing. They tell their own stories without there being a need for you to embellish.
I know from talking to you earlier that you took some inspiration for this project from your own family.
I’ve never been this personally invested in a play. I wrote a play once about my hometown, about a real life land-grab situation that involved members of my family. I ran the risk of having my family disown me — I received threats, and the theater got threats.
You must have smoothed things over with the family, because you went on to interview some of them as research for ReEntry.
I have five brothers who have been in the service — I’m the youngest of twelve — and two of them are combat veterans. I interviewed them because they’re colorful characters.
My writing partner Emily has two brothers serving right now. Her brother Zach was redeployed just the other day.
Just how many interviews did you and Emily do while you were researching the project?
We did 98 full sit-down interviews, each of which lasted an average of three hours. The commanding officer by himself was a seven hour interview — I had 28 pages on him alone. He was an interesting subject, too — for one thing, he said that there would be fewer cases of post traumatic stress if our leaders were forced to take responsibility for their decisions
I interviewed a couple of influential colonels, and one of them really blew my mind with a briefing he gave to parents of deployed soldiers. We wound up using that briefing in its entirety.
I’m sure you’ve done a massive amount of editing in boiling down those hundreds of hours of material into a final script, but was there an effort to put things across as verbatim as possible? Would you describe this as more of an oral history presentation than a dramatic work?
We changed all of the names and other specifics — there are active members of the military represented here, as well as some people who are currently seeing psychiatrists — but basically the characters say what came from their mouths. We wanted there to be no doubt as to the authenticity of what we were doing.
But were there a certain set of points that you intended to make, and did you interview people or select material with an eye toward fitting within a proscribed story arc? Or did you just allow it to take you where it may?
There’s a lot of us in the way we edit, but there is no sneaky political agenda. All of my liberal friends are gonna be shocked when they discover that this is not actually an anti-war play. But it would be absurd for us to make this a personal statement when we’re trying to tell other people’s stories.
Still, it’s nearly impossible to not have some strong personal feelings about our role in the ongoing wars.
For me, with Iraq and Afghanistan we’re thrown into a confusing question of ownership. You know, it’s so easy to get angry and blame the administration for things, but the people in the armed forces — their contract with us is that they’re an arm of the American people. They’re living up to their end of the bargain, and I can’t overlook the fact that I “own” part of this war.
What are some of the major things you’ve learned in the process of doing those interviews? Have you had to disenherit yourself of any previously held beliefs?
I’ve learned that this is a long process — the entanglement is complicated. I’ve learned that this is the first war fought with a purely volunteer force — that changes the landscape considerably.
And I’ve learned just how different, how sophisticated the training is now. They used to practice shooting at round metal objects, and now it’s the human form as a target. They do imagery work, too — they’re told to imagine what it’s like killing someone, what it’s like being wounded, or watching your buddy get wounded.
And what do you suppose you’ve gained from the experience of all that research?
I’ve gained such a respect for the national service —I’ve fallen in love with the culture of the Marine Corps! Really, I am absolutely biased toward these people. I’m impressed with how many people said they’re more organized — these veterans are going to be of such a different character, in terms of professionalism and how they conduct themselves back home.
I met one mom who lives in Chicago; her kid was smart but screwing up. He decided to join the Marines, and a few weeks ago she went to his graduation from basic training — she said, for the first time in a long time, I liked him. I met a man who was disciplined and courteous.
Even so, much of the play, from what I understand, still touches upon the veterans who have difficulty readjusting to civilian life. You’re doing a panel discussion on PTSD, and I’m sure you’re dealing with that topic on the stage.
It’s not all rosy. You see the pressure, the intensity building — the backsliding. One guy told me that when he goes to a bar, he can’t sit with his back to the door. Someone else asked, ‘how do you take a gladiator to dinner?’
But what they all have in common is that no one has any self-pity. And I should mention that the play is surprisingly funny in places. That’s an integral part of the Corps.
I think that the word “journey” is one of the most over-used clichés in circulation these days, but do you have any other way of describing what the people in your play go through?
We see these people and how their experiences shape them — it is a journey, in a very real sense of the word. And it applies to everyone — one of the experiences I had when I was researching this project was when I met one of the colonels I talked to. I told him I was a playwright and he was skeptical of my motives. He had already had a bad experience with some movie people.
I told him about one Marine I interviewed — you know, trust is vital to a Marine, you have to trust each other. But he told me that he didn’t trust a couple of the guys who were in his group. They were gangbangers who joined the Corps to avoid having to serve time for a conviction.
The officer told me that they didn’t have anybody like that in the Corps; these things did not happen. I told him what I knew, and the next day he sent me an e-mail saying, you were right — this sort of thing is going on, and it’s not something I’m proud of.
With the understanding that this could be a constantly morphing piece of work, where do you see ReEntry going over the coming months and years?
There’s been a lot of interest. Some folks from the Mark Taper Forum are coming to see it. We received an excellence grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. And there’s been talk of performing it at military bases.
I’m also editing some of the material I collected to put into a book form. This is a project that’s still evolving in many ways — it’s helped me to set aside my own ego. It’s bigger than me!
One last question. When you direct your own take on Private Lives later this year, what kind of a boot camp will you be holding for that show?
Tango lessons! Tango and sipping champagne and smoking cigarettes. Shall I sign you up?
ReEntry begins four days of previews tomorrow and opens on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. (with a 3:30 matinee on Sunday), then continues with performances Wednesdays through Sundays until February 15. Tickets for all performances are $24 for all patrons 21 years and under; adult admission is $30 for matinees and $40 for evening performances.
With underwriting by Meridian Health and Linda and Paul Gaffney, TRTC has established a Military Ticket Fund offering complimentary admission for all U.S. military veterans attending performances. Ticket reservations and full schedule details can be obtained by calling (732)345-1400 or visiting the Two River website.
KJ Sanchez will explain the story of how ReEntry came to fruition in a series of BeforePlay talks presented 30 minutes prior to each showtime. In addition, Two River Theater and producing partner Monmouth University will host a special series of four free panel discussions on topics related to the play — full details on venues, topics and guest speakers can be viewed right here.
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January 19, 2009
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