In a time of instant communication, distant human interaction is often accomplished by way of tweets or texts. The act of using a pen and paper is rare these days, still nothing captures a moment like a personal letter, especially a war letter.
• What: “If All the Sky Were Paper”
• When: April 10-13 and April 17-19, at 8 p.m., except for 2 p.m. Sunday matinees
• Where: Skidmore College, 815 N. Broadway, Saratoga Springs
• How much: $12 general admission, $8 for students and seniors
• Info:580-5439 or email [email protected]
In every American conflict, from the Revolutionary War to Iraq and Afghanistan, soldiers have captured the emotions of war in their letters. Skidmore College’s theater department brings some of those letters to life in the war letter-inspired production, “If All the Sky Were Paper.”
The play tells the story of war from the viewpoint of the men and women on the front lines and the loved ones on the home front.
“When I first received the script … it seemed the perfect project,” said Lary Opitz, Skidmore professor and director of the show. “I read the New York Times every morning and am quite surprised that every day, though we are still at war in Afghanistan, the news about our troops in Afghanistan is buried. We have troops in harm’s way at this very moment, yet the conversation that we are currently engaged in a war is so far from us, particularly with young people, unless they have a relative or friend who is serving.”
Opitz said that through the play and the course that is attached to it, he hoped to give students a better understanding of the nature of combat in American history.
“I wanted to help them make this discovery and understand the toll of war on individuals in combat,” Opitz said.
The play is based on author and historian Andrew Carroll’s books “War Letters” and “Behind the Lines,” which are the result of a three-year journey traveling the world in search of war correspondence. Carroll’s goal was to remember the Americans and their stories. Since then, Carroll has collected more than 90,000 letters from every conflict in U.S. history as part of what he calls the Legacy Project.
Carroll wrote the script for “If All the Sky Were Paper” in collaboration with a theater professor at Chapman University in California, John Benitz, after Benitz read about the project and approached Carroll with the idea of turning his project into a play.
“Carroll was interested; they got together and turned the letters into a play performed at Chapman in 2012,” Opitz said. “Since that time, Chapman has become the repository for all the letters.”
Opitz said the play was performed at The Linda in Albany last year with Carroll playing the narrator.
“We are expanding on that,” Opitz said. “My goal was to make the piece as theatrical as possible. Although written for five actors and a narrator, with Andrew Carroll’s permission, I have expanded that to 11 actors total.”
Opitz adds that he has also dramatized the events more than previous productions.
“Some of the narration I have turned into short scenes interspersed with people reading the letters,” Opitz said. “There is a section on the personal toll on war, the enormity of war and the numbers of casualties over many years.”
Opitz said the play rides a rollercoaster of emotions, including a humorous side to the letters.
Conor Mullen, a Skidmore College senior who plays the narrator, said he was surprised at the almost comical side of dealing with war from the letters.
“I thought a lot would revolve around wanting to be home, the cost of violence and things, but what’s funny is within those themes there is so much variation,” Mullen said. “It’s so funny how different soldiers chose to deal with their situation and describe their situation.”
Mullen describes one of his favorite letters in the play, which is a letter from a German housewife.
“She is writing about her sexual frustration of having all the men in the country off at war,” he laughed. “It’s a different perspective on the war.”
Mullen’s said his job as the narrator is to “lay the track so that the train that is the story can pass.”
“I play the narrator, who is Andrew Carroll. He is somebody who goes on a journey around the world trying to collect and preserve war letters from throughout history,” Mullen said. “I may say, ‘Here is a letter written in WWII by such and such. This is the context in which it happens, and this person went on to write this book or this person unfortunately didn’t make it home.’”
Opitz said the audience at last year’s show at The Linda varied greatly, but it’s clear that the letters tug at the hearts of veterans and others involved in war the most.
“They were old, young and veterans,” he said. “The vets really did appreciate it — it was a true image of what they had gone through.”
Mullen said the play has given him an appreciation for the variety of experiences that happen in war.
“I’ve always had a respect for people who choose to participate in combat, but what really came is more of a respect for how the different ways war can be experienced. Each experience can be so different and so unusual,” Mullen said. “It’s so unreal and so real at the same time.”
Opitz said what makes the production even more special is how the handwritten letters are something of a lost art.
“So much of the correspondence with Iraq and Afghanistan was email. I have a nephew who never wrote a letter. Now they can Skype and actually see and speak to families at home. And there is a lot of texting going on,” Opitz said.
He says that what adds mystique to the letters is that time was a factor.
“It wasn’t immediate. They would wait and wait for letters in WWI and II and Korea. There was quite a time lapse,” he said. “The vets who spoke with us said that, even in Vietnam, mail call was so important. It was the highlight to get those letters from home.”
Mullen believes however that it’s more the act of writing the letter and not so much the medium that will keep memories such as those from war alive, and email is here to stay, he said.
“There is a unique perspective when people write a letter. You don’t have to look into the eyes. You are really communicating almost with your own internal thought,” Mullen says. “So I think people will continue to write emails and because of that, the relationship of person to pen, will still get these emotional revelations of war through letters.”
The play will take place at the Janet Kinghorn Bernhard Theater at Skidmore College, 815 N. Broadway, Saratoga Springs, on Thursday, April 10, through Sunday, April 13, and once again on Thursday, April 17, through Saturday, April 19. All shows are at 8 p.m., except Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets are $12 general admission, $8 students and senior citizens. For reservations or more information, call the Skidmore Theater Box Office at 580-5439 or email [email protected].
The Legacy Project is continually looking for correspondence from all of America’s wars, emails included. See warletters.com for more information about how to submit the letters.
