The Sand Storm Returns to L.A.

MetroStage was very pleased to host the East Coast premiere of The Sand Storm: Stories From the Front during August and September in conjunction with producer Charlie Fink. It has now returned to L.A. where playwright Sean Huze is arranging for a college tour. The voices of the military personnel in Sand Storm, all representing Huze's experience as a Marine during the Iraq war, had a real resonance with audiences at MetroStage, many of whom had served in the military. The Wednesday talk backs were an added opportunity to gain insight from those in the audience and moderators who had served in the war. Of particular note was the final Wednesday when former Senator Max Cleland spoke to the audience.

One evening after the show I was talking to a patron who was very moved by the production. It turns out that she was a photojournalist who had been embedded in Iraq and was having her photographs published in a book called Unembedded: Four Independent Photojournalists on the War in Iraq. Her comments which she then emailed me were of real significance because she had been there in the midst of the battle and had found the portrayals of these soldiers so very authentic. The following is her email:

Dear Carolyn: Thank you again for staging that incredibly moving and important production. The medium of theatre was able to tell the story of Iraq in a way incomparable to any other reports on the war - the immediacy and human presence of the stage brought the story home with astonishing power. Even with all the photographs and stories I have read and seen (and written and taken) on the war in Iraq, this play moved me beyond anything I have yet experienced about the war. I think this kind of brave showing of what this war is about will only continue to happen more and more. This is just the beginning, and you are at the cutting edge of it.
Thanks, Rita (Leistner)

Theatre serves many purposes. In this case it offered insight into an experience most of us never (thankfully) have to have. I felt the compelling stories being told reflected the impact of their experiences in Iraq but also universally addressed the impact of war on the "warriors" during any war at any time. I am grateful that our stage could be host to these important stories and hope the play will continue to be presented for the general public as well as college students around the country so they will understand the power of war and the effect on the individual. Thank you to playwright Sean Huze, his director and collaborator Brett Smock, and, of course, producer Charlie Fink.