THEATER AND ITS DOUBLE

In recent plays like Detroit ‘67, themes of hope and love are intertwined with the events of public school riots amidst the cultural landscape of Motown. The play is not only a portal into American history but also reflects on issues that remain culturally relevant today.

We will be working with experts from the Central Square Theater to learn ways to recontextualize a significant moment in history to a contemporary audience through script writing, acting, and much more. Drawing parallels from historical narratives, students will play out different acts using custom designed props. Students will learn to understand how reenactments can become a powerful tool for reliving moments from history- through the lens of different people.

Session III: 10/15 Tues -11/1 Fri

Alexander’s is a place where people gather to share their stories. You never know who will walk into this timeless bar and transport you back to a moment in time. This is where echoes of riots reverberate through the ceilings, where spirits of rebellion linger in the air, where the past merges with the present and whispers near futures. 

Directed by Jacqueline Parker of the Central Square Theater, this story is woven together from monologues written by students. It captures events from history that are at times tragic and at other times victorious. Presented in a non-linear narrative, different characters show us a glimpse into the pulse of their time. As their intimate world becomes ours, events revisited are re contextualized with the present.

I stand by the debris of the fallen towers. My ears are ringing, I am devastated. Sirens blaring, people screaming, and me, standing there hopeless. I collapsed onto the pavement coughing and coughing, I cannot breathe. Dust all over my face, in my nose, my mouth. The world around me slowly starts to fade away. I awaken in an ambulance, all wired up. I go to wipe my eyes and pull back my hand to see it stained with blood. I am one of the first responders, now being driven away by my colleagues. I was having a cup of coffee at the firehouse, on a beautiful sunny day when we got the call. All firefighters, ambulances and police stations were ordered to clear out and rush down to lower manhattan. The small tv we have in the firehouse was on and every news station was reporting that a plane had crashed into one of the twin towers. Surely it was an accident and we were racing down there to help save people trapped inside. When we pulled up at the scene, however, that's when the second plane hit. The earth stopped spinning, everyone froze, and time was moving in slow motion. A loud boom echoed across New York, and thousands of papers went up in the air, coming down like snowflakes. Instinctively, my crew and I rushed in ordering people to evacuate. Hundreds of people ran out screaming, as I sprinted up the marble stairs. The higher up I got, the harder it became to breathe. Thick black smoke floated in the air. I picked up a crying woman sitting hopeless by the staircase, she was bloody and her leg was broken. Up and down I went retrieving more and more people. I was helping a man down the stairs when I heard a crack, and the ground shake. The building was coming down. Luckily the entrance was a few feet away and I was able to escape. There was a thunderous boom from above, as I saw the first tower crumble. I braced myself and closed my eyes. I wake up in a pile of debris. The second tower had just fallen with it. I wipe off my face and crumble to the ground in tears. This is the darkest day in America. 

Survivors of the 9/11 attacks on the U.S are in danger twenty years later. Specifically first responders who went in and out of the debris of the World Trade Centers. Because they were saving peoples lives, many of them have been slammed with the so called "World trade center illness". Many of them are getting cancer and respiratory disease because of the deadly debris that was spewed out into lower Manhattan during the 9/11 attacks. Many people don't think of the health condition of the first responders today. President Trump recently signed a permanent extension of funding for victim compensation that will run through 2090 to cover surviving 9/11 first responders  for their entire lives.

Our play is a series of monologues and stories made to share important events in history. These events aren't necessarily the most famous, but they are meant to be important events. The goal of the play is to share with the audience these powerful moments and make them live these moments with the actors. We do this by having different scenes that set up the monologues.

My monologue is from the perspective of a 17-year-old man named Hung Tran. He just escaped Vietnam and is on his way to America. I explain how I am alone and scared and how the Vietnam War has changed my life forever. A goal of mine was to share how alone Hung felt even though he was on a crowded ship. My monologue still feels relevant today because of the thousands of immigrants and refugees fleeing their country in search of a new home.

Monologue:

Most people would say that 17 should classify you as a child, but the events I witnessed made me a man. My entire life has been about war. When I was born, it was two years into the Vietnam War. Yesterday was the fall of Saigon where I fled for my life, and right now I am stranded in the middle of the ocean with no home to go to. Right now our plan is to go to the United States, but I am frightened by the idea that I will not be accepted. My name Hung means courageous or heroic. I find it ironic because I am stranded, scared, and there is nothing I can do. This is the first day where I haven’t heard gunshots and explosions but I do not feel any safer. My father died right in front of me and my mom and I were separated at the different ships. A man said she was going to England. I wanted to go with her but instead, I am forced to go to America. I am starving and hot and tired and don’t know how much longer I can do this.

"Alexander's": A student-written play that relives and depicts responses, riots, and rebellions throughout the world. This play draws from common themes of fear, hardship, pride, and war throughout history.  

Darla, the evening time bartender, recites a flashback monologue portraying her experience during the Orlando Nightclub shootings. On June 12, 2016, there was a mass shooting in which a man gunned down 49 people, injuring 53 people at a gay nightclub. The character Darla was another patron in the nightclub at the night of the shooting and describes her point of view during the traumatizing event. During the monologue, Darla reimagines her feelings of guilt, fear, hopelessness, and sorrow. It is relevant to revisit this event through the perspective of a victim as the Orlando shootings are another occurrence of history repeating it's. Almost 50 years before this shooting was the Stonewall raids and riots, another event where the LGBTQIAP+ community was violently targeted. These are not the only events where the LGBTQIAP+ community has been discriminated against and is an issue that is extremely prevalent today. The world is still fighting the fight to accept those for who they are and obtain equal rights for everyone.

Our play goes back in time into some historical world events and tragedy’s that have taken place such as 9/11, The battle of the Alamo, and The Columbine shootings

My character is a firefighter on 9/11. He sits in a timeless bar with countless other story tellers. His expirence is triggered when the bartender mentions that the current date is 9/11 which takes him into his monolouge. He talks about how it was a beautiful sunny day that quickly turned dark because of the terrorist attacks. He describes the memories of rushing in an out of the twin towers, saving many lives. The monolouge is then wrapped up by him describing how the twin towers collapsed and how he lay hopeless, in a pile of debris. That takes him back to square one were the monolouge started, in the ambulance. My character (Carson) stays silently in the corner of the bar, as a regular, making comments on overheard conversations throughout the bar. Overall my character is a silent, yet remorseful one. He can tell his scarring tragedy, and listens on to other newcomers inspiring stories.