LETTERS HOME 2012/2013 National Touring Schedule Announced!
Chicago, IL, September 7, 2012–The Griffin Theatre Company is pleased to announce its 2012/2013 touring schedule for its National Touring production of LETTERS HOME.
The production adapted by Artistic Director, William Massolia and directed by ensemble member, Kevin Kingston puts the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan front and center by bringing to life actual letters written by troops serving in the Middle East. Since its original run at the Chicago Cultural Center in January 2007 the production has become one of the most sought after national touring shows and has received critical acclaim throughout the United States. The production has been seen by over 75,000 people in 45 major US cities.
The upcoming 2012/2013 tour includes stops in Oklahoma, Arkansas, New York, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Iowa, Florida, Nevada and Arizona. The tour will kick off on October 11, 2012 in Newnan, Georgia just south of Atlanta. On Veteran’s Day, (November 11, 2012) the production will be performed in Fayetteville, Arkansas at the Walton Center for the Performing Arts. The venue, named after Wallmart founder, Sam Walton is located in the city where the major retailer is based.
The current cast includes, Michael Bartz, Liz Cloud, Damian Conrad-Davis, Cameron Harms, Jon Harrison, Curtis Jackson, Tim Martin, Sean McGill, Leah Raidt & Jessica Dean Turner.
The production is inspired by the New York Times Op-Ed Article, The Things They Wrote and the subsequent HBO documentary, Last Letters Home and additionally uses letters and correspondences from Frank Schaeffer’s books, Voices From the Front, Letters Home From America’s Military Family, Faith of Our Sons, and Keeping Faith. The play without politicizing gives audiences a powerful portrait of the soldier experience in the ongoing wars.
Although the title of the play implies that all the letters are from soldiers, the production chooses to include a small number of correspondences from parents – their words, being no less important. These letters were written under the most difficult of circumstances; the disorientation of training, deployment, separation from family and loved ones and combat, and occupation duties in Afghanistan and Iraq. One theme seems to unite their diverse voices—the belief that the person standing beside you, is more important than you are. They also help define for the audience—patriotism and what it means to serve our country today, through acts of bravery, compassion, social responsibility, sense of community and brotherhood. Collectively the production gives a voice to a generation that went to war against terror in Afghanistan and to war in Iraq, for reasons that are still being debated and who are still fighting and dying in those wars today and reveals the humanity that lies within the war as seen through the eyes of the men and women fighting it.
TOURING SCHEDULE
October 10-11, 2012 – Center for the Performing Arts, Newnan, Georgia
October 13, 2012 – Florissant Civic Center, Florissant, Missouri
October 23, 2012 – University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa
October 24 – 25, 2012 – Metropolis Performing Arts Center, Arlington Heights, Illinois
October 26, 2012 – Cottey College, Nevada, Missouri
October 27, 2012 – Blue Springs, Missouri
October 30, 2012 – Higley Center for the Performing Arts, Higley, Arizona
November 1, 2012 – Tabor Academy, Marion Massachusetts
November 2, 2012 – Nazareth College, Rochester, New York
November 3 – 4, 2012 – The Firehouse Theater, Johnson City, New York
November 7, 2012 – The King Center for the Performing Arts, Melbourne, Florida
November 8, 2012 – Morganton Civic Center, Morganton, North Carolina
November 9, 0212 – Madison Cultural Center, Madison, Georgia
November 11- 13, 2012 – The Walton Center, Fayetteville, Arkansas
November 16, 2012 – Robson Performing Arts Center, Claremore, Oklahoma
February 27 – March 3, 2013 – The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, Las Vegas, Nevada
March 20 -21, 2013 – Keene College, Keene, New Hampshire
March 22 – 23, 2013 – St. Ambrose University, Davenport, Iowa
May 7 – 8, 2013 – Gallo Center for the Performing Arts, Modesto, California
The Griffin Theatre Company is partially supported by grants from a CityArts Program II grant through the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs; and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.