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Theatre & Box Office Letters Home Fri, Feb 1 ( |
From The Post Tribune Poignant production in Valparaiso details war through words of soldiers
January 25, 2008
BY BOB KOSTANCZUK Post-Tribune staff writer
Wives writing husbands, relaying precious anecdotes of their young children and expressing hope that the husband would soon be home. Moms writing sons, stressing pride in the work they're doing to make the world safe. Poignant and telling, this real correspondence between people left back home in Northwest Indiana and their loved ones fighting the war in Iraq and Afghanistan is being intertwined in The Chicago Street Theatre's ambitious new production, "Letters Home." Caroline Shook of Chesterton shared e-mail correspondence she's had with her son, Valparaiso native Shire Kuch, a 26-year-old Army captain serving in Iraq. Shook doesn't curb her admiration of her son: "I couldn't do what he's doing." Tribute to soldiers It's that type of bristling intensity that defines William Massolia's "Letters Home," a theatrical tribute to American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. On Friday, Feb. 1, the Valparaiso theater company opens a two-week run of "Letters Home." It is anchored by stories of real people told through letters from servicemen detailing their harrowing life during time of war. Those type of accounts are relayed stateside from Shook's son, a 2000 graduate of Valparaiso High School. "I shared e-mails from him that sort of talk about what he goes through every day," Shook said. The mother said she decided to share her overseas correspondence with her son for reasons of enlightenment. "I just thought people who don't have kids over there don't know what we go through as parents, nor do people truly understand what's going on over there," she said. Having served in Iraq since last spring, Kuch is scheduled to return home in July, according to his mother. "Letters Home" will also include the reading of a letter from Amy Dudzienski to her husband, Army Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Dudzienski, who is stationed in Afghanistan. The couple graduated from Valparaiso High School in 1991. For the upcoming presentation of "Letters Home" in Valparaiso, several local pieces of correspondence were incorporated into Massolia's work, which features war letters from other parts of the country. The soldiers' writings pack a wallop, said Traci Brant, co-director of the play. "The commitment that these guys have is amazing, and you don't get that sense through news reports," she said. "Their words are so much more powerful." Co-director Jonni Pera added that "Letters Home" steers clear of certain elements regarding the Iraq war. "It's not a political play," she said. "It's really not about the politicians at all, or why we're there." Rather, there are different focuses. "Clearly, it's soldiers who wish they were home and miss home," Pera said. "It's their reactions to their daily life. It's emotional." Contact Bob Kostanczuk at 648-3144 or bkostanczuk@post-trib.com If you go What: "Letters Home" Where: Chicago Street Theatre, 154 W. Chicago St., Valparaiso When: 8 p.m. Fridays, Feb. 1, 8 and 15; 8 p.m. Saturdays, Feb. 2, 9 and 16; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10; and 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14 Tickets: $15 for adults; $12 for senior citizens 62 and older, and for students 21 and younger; $12 for American military veterans; $12 for those in groups of 10 or more For tickets: 464-1636 or www.ctgonline.org |
