Tags
Amarie Lee, Andrews Living Arts, Bobby White, Drama, Ethan Henry, Ft. Lauderdale Theatre, Lanford Wilson, Laura Turnbull, Post 8195: Black Vietnam Soldiers Tell Their Stories, Primal Forces Productions, Redwood Curtain, VFW 8195, Vietnam Veterans
Primal Forces Productions
production of Lanford Wilson’s
Redwood Curtain
To benefit South Broward Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8195
April 17 – May 3
“… a little gem that has a pretty satisfying mystery at its center…you get to absorb Lanford Wilson’s terrific dialogue, and appreciate how and when he reveals precisely what we need to know in the natural flow of the narrative.” – MichiganLive
March 26, 2015
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL: Landford Wilson’s Redwood Curtain is a thought-provoking exploration of memories – of families, of secrets, and of war – set in the towering redwood forests of Northern California. The play stunned 1992 Broadway audiences with its unique spin on a Vietnam veteran and the mysterious young Asian woman who tracks him down.
Primal Forces Productions will present this powerful commentary on the effects of war and remembrance from April 17th through May 3rd at Andrews Living Arts in Fort Lauderdale. And in keeping with the play’s theme, a percentage of the production’s revenue will be donated to Broward County’s VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) Post 8195.
“With Redwood Curtain Primal Forces concludes its three-play series on the effects of the counterculture on today’s generation,” says producer Keith Garsson. “The play was written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Lanford Wilson, who was an early force in the off-Broadway theatre of the 1960s and 70s. This being the last of our trilogy, we are finishing on a lighter and more hopeful tone than was presented in both The Anarchist and Sunset Baby.
“Wilson’s characters are usually lost or forgotten Americans, left high and dry by events beyond their control,” Garsson continues, “However his characters eschew preaching and sermonizing and have accepted their fate – presented as headstrong forces within the ensuing drama. Redwood Curtain adds a new touch: the character of Geri, a young woman who endures a lonely and mysterious journey into the Redwood Forest to seek answers to her own past, but learns some shattering truths along the way.”
“Redwood Curtain was Wilson’s last show produced for Broadway, however, as in our prior productions we felt the intimacy of the drama would be enhanced by the up-close-and-personal setting of Andrews Living Arts,” Garsson explains. “And we’re fortunate to have a South Florida legend, set designer Tim Bennett, who has recreated one of the most beautiful areas of the country on stage.”
The production will star Ethan Henry, Laura Turnbull, and newcomer Amarie Lee.
Henry who received rave reviews in Primal Forces’ recent production of Sunset Baby, is fascinated by his character, and the play: “This is one of the most challenging plays I’ve ever read,” he says. “My character, Lyman Fellers, has chosen to seclude himself in the woods, and he wants to be left alone; but he’s forced to look inside himself when he’s confronted by someone else.”
The Florida Veterans of Foreign Wars has a rich tradition of serving veterans, military families and their local communities. Twenty-three members of Post 8195, under the guidance of Post Commander Bobby White, recently collaborated on a book titled Post 8195: Black Soldiers Tell Their Vietnam Stories. The entire proceeds from the play’s opening night performance and reception as well as a percentage of the funds generated by all Redwood Curtain ticket sales will be donated to Post 8195; the book will be available for sale at Andrews Living Arts during the run of the play.
Tickets for Redwood Curtain are $25 ($12.50 for veterans) and can be purchased on line at www.primalforcesproductions.com, or by phone at 866-811-4111. Andrews Living Arts Studio is located at 23 NW Fifth Street in Fort Lauderdale.
For more information about Primal Forces Productions, interviews, or photos, please contact Carol Kassie at ckassie@gmail.com/561-445-9244.
For more information about Post 8195 visit: http://myvfw.org/fl/post8195 .
Redwood Curtain
By Lanford Wilson
Performances:
April 17 – May 3
Thu-Fri-Sat at 8pm,
Sun at 2pm
Sat May 2nd at 2pm
Please note: There will be no 8 pm performance on April 25th
Tickets $25
For Tickets: 866-811-4111
Performances: Thursday – Saturday at 8:00 pm
Sunday at 2 pm
All performances will take place at Andrews Living Arts
23 NW 5th St
Ft Lauderdale, FL 33301
www.primalforcesproductions.com
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Post 8195: Black Soldiers Tell Their Vietnam Stories, by Bobby White
VFW Post 8195 in West Park, Florida, through the Stone of Hope Program, organized services and programs to help Vietnam and other military veterans and their families who had special needs. “The Vietnam War was physically, spiritually and emotionally exhausting for us,” says Post Commander Bobby White. In this unique collection, he has brought together the words of 23 veterans who witnessed the war’s cruelty and brutality. Through their testimonies, White reminds us that the war’s impact has been long-lasting, with both negative and positive results. Readers will be riveted by their narratives of racism, hostile battlefields, ambush zones, fire fights, land mines, flashbacks, search-and-destroy missions, military police operations, working with K-9s, and finally addressing and putting the PTSD issues at ease.
Available at Amazon.com.
Critical Praise for Redwood Curtain:
“Redwood Curtain” is … a state-of-the-nation piece for the early 1990’s. Its disturbing subject is the self-destructive American habit of practicing amnesia about all its past nightmares, not just those of Vietnam. Standing in rootless contrast to the trees around them, the people in this play, and by implication their country, cannot find their way out of the woods until they figure out how they got stranded there in the first place.” – NY Times
“Redwood Curtain is equal parts fairy tale, mystery and comedy. Wilson skillfully blends fantastic, magical, suspenseful, and human elements to produce an intimate human drama.” – Variety
“A journey into the American psyche . . . The gritty and/or down home realism of Wilson’s best plays has been combined with magical qualities that make the work a kind of folk/fairy mystery tale.” – Seattle Times
Carol Kassie 