Teen actors moved by war denied a stage

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AMY GOODMAN
SYNDICATED COLUMNIST

Last Sunday night, as millions of Americans tuned in to the two Tonys -- the final episode of "The Sopranos," to see whether Tony Soprano lived or died, and the Tony Awards, celebrating the best in American theater -- actor Stanley Tucci (who played "Nigel" in "The Devil Wears Prada") was in an off-Broadway theater, the Culture Project, watching high-school students perform a play about war.

The production, "Voices in Conflict," moved the audience to tears, ending with a standing ovation for the teenage actors, still reeling from a controversy that had propelled them onto the New York stage. Their high school principal had banned the play.

Bonnie Dickinson has been teaching theater at Wilton High School in Connecticut for 13 years. She and her students developed the idea of a play about Iraq, initially inspired by the Sept. 3, 2006, death of Wilton High graduate Nicholas Madaras from an improvised explosive device blast in Baqubah, Iraq. The play uses real testimonials from soldiers, from their letters, blogs and taped interviews, and Yvonne Latty's book "In Conflict," with the students acting the roles. The voices of Iraqis are also included.

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[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. I hope these students

are able to perform this play in several venues, including their school.

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3. Right on! I'm happy to see that there are some young folks

that have a good head and sense of direction and are not owned by our adults.

[1monster]

2. k & r

[CTyankee]

4. One student, sister of the fallen soldier, was on a crusade against the play.

That had a big effect. I don't know why she felt so strongly. It wasn't any kind of criticism against her brother.

Wilton is an upper middle class community located in CT's "gold coast", Fairfield County, not too far from New Canaan and Greenwich. I was surprised that its school had a student who was in Iraq as a soldier, since most kids in schools like Wilton are college bound.

Needless to say, the whole affair was sad. I think the kids really got an education in real life and to be able to go on to an off Broadway locale was just wonderful (of course, Wilton is probably only 20 minutes from midtown Manhattan.)