The Studio Theatre presents Matt Morillo's American Soldiers, a story about Angela, an army veteran who returns to her home in Long Island after her deployment in the Middle East. American Soldiers runs Thursday, Nov. 14 through Saturday, Nov. 23.
Morillo’s drama sheds light on the difficulty of soldiers returning to their civilian lives while illustrating the power of family. Angela, traumatized from her combat experience, attempts to free her political family from the engrained, hometown influences that led her to enlist. Her father, a Vietnam veteran, is committed to keeping his family together and at peace.
Morillo, a Long Island-born playwright, filmmaker, and humorist, has made a splash in the world of independent theater and film. After graduating film school, he made his debut with his feature, The Pretenders, an award-winning romantic comedy. His subsequent short films, most notably Maid of Honor, also attracted numerous awards. American Soldiers is Morillo's first family drama, where he completely forsakes the comedic form, since his days as a filmmaker. Morillo will be at Wayne State during the run of the show, and will participate in an audience talk-back following select performances.
Director Katherine Skoretz explains, “The story of the returning soldier is as old as Odysseus and as contemporary as YouTube. A simple Google search for ‘soldiers coming home’ turns up viral videos of returning veterans surprising their spouses and children," she says. "But these videos compress homecoming into seconds of joyful reunion, ignoring the complex reintegration that must take place in the face of war. American Soldiers explores the difficult questions of reintegration: Who is reintegration really for? What is its purpose? And if it means that we all have to change, can we?”
Tickets are $10-$12. Veterans are offered discounted tickets for $5 with a military I.D. Call the Studio Theatre Box Office at 313-577-2972 or visit www.wsustudio.com.
The Studio Theatre is an intimate, 110-seat, open-stage theatre in the lower level of the Hilberry Theatre that is often used for experimental, student, and classroom productions.