FRANK THEATRE

As you know, Frank's work is challenging, which is the heart of our mission. This past Sunday, on the opening weekend of AJAX IN IRAQ, we had our first post-show discussion for this show. The panel consisted of a woman who had spent 8 years in the Air Force (many of them as the only woman in her unit), a Viet Nam vet who now works as a psychologist helping those who have experienced trauma, and a young man--now a singer-songwriter--who not so long ago returned from action in Iraq. Like the discussions with Liberian women after last fall's production of ECLIPSED, this discussion was as moving and emotional as the play itself. The man who had had returned from Iraq said he felt that the play was incredibly honest, and that as he was watching, he kept thinking of the day he thought what the character had just said. He also said that the play was full of triggers for him, and that he was proud of the fact that he could sit through the play without having to leave. The woman, when asked if she thought vets from Iraq would come to see the show, responded probably not, that they were trying to forget what they had been through. "But," she said, "You are doing them an incredible service by telling their story, by getting this out there."

That is what we try to do. By putting stories on stage that reflect the world we live in--many times, the difficult stoires of the world--we're trying to shed light. Please help us continue to do so!