War Words, assembled by Michelle Kholos Brooks from the words of some dozen veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, is simplicity itself, and all the stronger for it. The show thrusts the audience into combat and its devastating aftereffects. You may quibble here and there with the presentation and the choices of what’s included and what isn’t, but it’s unlikely that you’ll leave A.R.T./New York unmoved.
Danny (Jakob Von Eichel) and Kimberley (Bethany Geraghty), his very understanding wife.
Brooks spent a good deal of time interviewing veterans, and while a few are composite figures, they all ring true, very true. She’s concerned mainly with why they joined the military, what combat did to their psyches, and how well they survived it. Certainly some came out worse than others: Danny (Jakob Von Eichel) made it home from tours with both the Army and Air Force with multiple wounds, severe PTSD, and considerable rage. He married and had three kids with Kimberley (Bethany Geraghty), a bartender, who put up with his outbursts and even occasional death threats. A very damaged hero; Brooks homes in on what multifaceted, good-bad personalities war produces. “Our troops know plenty about dying,” notes Nate (Donald Calliste, an actual war vet), an earnest, diversity-loving chaplain dedicated to helping other vets. “What a lot of them can’t figure out is how to live.”
Some figure it out just fine. John (David Alan Rasche) and Emily (Alysia Reiner) met in combat and built a functional life together, one staying home and raising the kids while the other was on tour of duty. They’re affectionate, funny, and charming, but both endured horrors, which they divulge with the casualness of a couple of blithe party guests. And the story of Janis (Haythem Noor) and Matt (John Concado) is both gratifying and heart-rending: Janis, a translator for American troops, saved Matt’s life, dramatically, and became his personal translator. Since the Taliban routinely regards such people as traitors and often hunts them and/or their families down, Matt labored to get Janis out of Afghanistan and to America. Now they call each other “brother,” and Matt founded a charity to get other translators out of there. By the end of War Words, you’ll want to contribute.
Matthew Nikitow is James, a homeless vet, and Jeneen Farmer is Amy, a heavy-equipment mechanic.
There are many other striking stories: Yus, a cute local little boy Danny knew, turned out to be a suicide bomber, and may have contributed mightily to Danny’s postwar stress. Dan (Kevin Loreque) handles remotely piloted aircraft, and, though not in direct combat, is acutely aware that his actions have destructive consequences, sometimes on innocents. Amy (Jeannean Farmer, also a vet) voices the routine harassment women in the military endure but also feels that “the Army Rangers and Navy Seals were amazing.” And Pete (John Siciliano, who needs more of a British accent), a one-legged Royal Marine, harbors no resentment about his war injury and would go right back if he could.
The work is composed mostly of monologues and dialogues, and there aren’t a lot of ways for director Sarah Norris to dramatize it visually. While one actor is soliloquizing, the dozen others can’t do much but look concerned, and though Sarah Grace Houston gets a choreography credit, the movement is minimal. Brian Dudekiewicz’s set barely exists: a bunch of chairs that are moved around à la Grand Hotel and a desk where Andrew Beall drums and manages sound effects, some of which are distracting. Julia Squier’s costumes are about what one would expect fortyish vets to wear, Elaine Wong’s lighting is effective without calling a lot of attention to itself, and Janet Bentley and Andy Evan Cohen’s sound design is refreshingly natural, except for those bombs and gunshots.
Dan (Kevin Loreque) drops bombs from drones, and hopes they land in the right places. Photographs by Jeremy Verner.
Brooks says in her script that the point of War Words is “to see their humanity so that we can connect with them and build a bridge between military and civilian.” She accomplishes that but leaves some nagging questions. Why don’t we hear more about their families? Their politics? Are we clasping a band of MAGAs to our bosom? The actors, largely fine, are sometimes given to overstatement, and while plenty of heroics are on display, a greater sampling of combat’s many downsides might have balanced the scale.
There’s no denying the vets’ fortitude, though, or their out-of-left-field humor. (John, on a search for explosives: “Many times that night I didn’t think I’d make it. That was the greatest physical and mental test I ever had. Until I had kids.”) A lighted sign on the wall in the A.R.T. lobby asks, “Why are you here and not somewhere else?” Because this is a damn compelling 90 minutes, that’s why.
The New Light Theater Project and New York Rep’s coproduction of War Words runs at the A.R.T./New York Theatres (502 W. 53rd St.) through Dec. 17. Evening performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 7 p.m., with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m. (except Dec. 3) and special Sunday evening performances at 7 p.m. on Dec. 3 and 10. For tickets, visit newlighttheaterproject.com or newyorkrep.org.
Written by: Michelle Kholos Brooks
Directed by: Sarah Norris
Set: Brian Dudekiewicz
Lighting: Elaine Wong
Costumes: Julia Squier
Sound: Janet Bentley and Andy Evan Cohen
Choreography: Sarah Grace Houston
