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Drama Ministry Class Performs Original Play

By Kristine Sensenig

The message of ROTC recruiters to the young people of America: "Give us a few weekends each year and you¹ll travel the world over, get a free education of your choice and discover a lifetime of adventure."

Realizing that these are enticing offers, the Warwick District Mennonite Churches of Virginia formed an Alternatives to the Military Committee, chaired by Pastor Glen Guyton of Calvary Community Church. They requested that EMU work with them in designing a project to educate young people about the reality behind ROTC recruitment strategies and to present viable alternatives to enlisting in the military. Now, a year and a half later, this project has hit the road.

This spring, EMU's Drama Ministry Team plans to travel to congregations throughout eastern Virginia. At each location, they will conduct a workshop-style presentation designed to make the peace position of the Mennonite Church relevant to current world events, and to those who are targeted by military recruitment. The event will open with a 30-minute drama performance, followed by a 90-minute discussion.

Entitled "Veterans Speak: An Original Drama and Dialogue about What it Means to Join the Military," the workshop is the product of professor of theater Barbra Graber's fall semester Drama Ministry course. The six students in the class (Emily Chamelin, Colt Nutter, Roxy Michael, Natalie Bell, Becky Steury, Rebekah Miller) researched the question: "What does it mean to join the military?"

Turning to books, video documentaries, scripture, poetry, music, Mennonite Central Committee materials, web sites and personal interviews, they collected what Graber termed "six hours worth of raw material." Everything went into a large notebook on Graber's shelf.

Graber divided the raw material into four thematic categories: recruitment, training, war and aftermath. With two students assigned to each category, the class worked portions of their findings into a script. Graber further distilled her students' work and organized it into a succinct show.

Graber is enthusiastic about the variety of voices incorporated into the piece, including those of her students and the original writers of the raw material. Of her role, she commented, "I would call myself the editor, the facilitator, the compiler and the artistic director, but I can¹t call myself the writer."

"The two sections that I wrote for this piece reflect interviews I did with two of my friends who joined the air force. They give a glimpse into boot camp and what goes on there," explained Colt Nutter, a sophomore.

Sophomore Roxy Michael first met pacifists when she entered EMU and initially was hesitant to perform "in-your-face peace stuff" that she didn't endorse. She nearly withdrew from the course, but now enthusiastically supports the project due to the integrity of the research.

"Everything is from a true story. It's not stuff we made up to make it sound like we're right. It's honestly the way it is," she said. A military veteran who visited campus during the drama's Dec. 3 premiere agreed, saying simply, "It¹s all true."

In the war scene, several recruits describe the horrors they witnessed and the last scene emphasizes the alienation and trauma they experienced after returning home.

"Our wish through this project is to give voice to the many who have served, and are rarely if ever given the chance to tell their stories. When enough of their stories have been heard, I truly believe we will find a way to stop the madness of war," said Graber in an introduction to the show.

Graber, who hopes to someday develop the script into a full-fledged drama, plans to investigate possible funding for a continuation of the project. "I think this thing could easily turn into a two-hour show that would include music, theater and even dance," she said. She is also considering taking the drama on tour during the summer.

The first workshop was held Feb. 7 at the Warwick River Mennonite Church in Newport News, Va. Conflict Transformation student Michael Shank lead discussion around three questions:

Why do young people enlist in the military?

Why does the government want you to enlist?

Why does the Mennonite church encourage alternatives to enlisting?

Graber and Shank both view the discussion as an integral component of the workshop. Shank views theater as having "the ability to access the less judgmental, emotional pathway of an audience member." Post-show discussions, he explained, help connect emotional responses with cognitive transformation.

A second phase of EMU's response to the Warwick District's request is planned for March 13 and 14. Warwick and local youth will visit campus for a weekend of workshops and speakers that address issues such as violence in the Bible, dialoguing with those who disagree and career options as alternatives to the military.

Development of Veterans Speak has been funded in part by a $1,500 faculty pilot project grant, a subset of the $2 million awarded to EMU by Lilly Endowment in 2001.

— article by: Kristine Sensenig; posted February 18, 2004