I finally got to see this play yesterday. My friend Bobby is in it and has been urging me to check it out for a while. The script is pulled from interviews with Marines that have just returned from tours. It was compiled by 2 actresses who both have brothers in the service…the play was born of their need to better understand their brothers. Sound familiar? It was totally weird to hear and see my thoughts coming out of the mouths of characters….I felt trite, I felt important, I felt smart, I felt dumb. As for the play itself: YES. It was such an honest exploration of what it is to serve, why people serve, the sticky situations it puts you in – emotionally, physically, and how complicated coming home is.
I could go on and on and on and on, but instead I will end with this, the end of the play, that made me cry, and plays never make me cry: the character of the sister, who’s been trying to understand her brothers, tells us about how she told one of them how she and some friends were discussing what they’d do if there was another terrorist attack on the city.
And the brother says to her, something along the lines of: you go to your apartment .You lock all of the doors. And you wait for me. And I will move hell to get to you, and I will evac you out of there.