USU prof and students create a play about humanity in war
USU students and faculty have been working together to write and produce a play about the experiences of soldiers in Iraq that will debut in January and potentially move to New York City.
The play is called “Scope” and was not created solely by drama students and faculty. Shawn Fisher, a USU theater professor, originally manufactured the idea for the play, but says Jeremy Gordon, a graduate student in communications, has emphasized his efforts.
The process for the play began about a year ago, Fisher said. He said he received a grant to explore theater through a group project and the members of the play have been very actively involved in its evolution.
“The thing that makes this production different than most is how interactive the theater company gets to be,” Fisher said. “We have worked in an open group process where writers are in contact with the actors and the cast also has a voice in the script and direction of the plot.”
Fisher, who wrote the script, said the idea for such a play came to him when he heard the interview of a U.S. Army sniper who had shot a person in Iraq. He said the sniper later met that person in a hospital and although the soldier was trained to perceive the enemy as less than human, he felt compelled to help make his victim comfortable in the hospital.
Around eight months ago, Fisher said Gordon climbed on board the project. Fisher explained that Gordon was a graduate student who had studied the political aspects of the war and how it is presented to the media. He says Gordon’s extensive knowledge of the political aspects of war and how war is presented to the media has added a new depth to the play that he never imagined.
Gordon says he fell into the project while searching for a thesis project, since he had studied the history of current and past wars and felt that the play was a natural fit for him.
“I guess I am the academia and research behind the project and Shawn is the art expert for the play,” Gordon said.
Gordon and Fisher both emphasize that the play is not a protest of any sort, but rather a human interest story that explores the life and experience of soldiers at war. The play explores the idea of dehumanization through war. The story follows two soldiers through the events of a recent shooting and the process of the evolution of war.
Gordon attributed much of his passion for communications and his thesis project to Brenda Cooper, a journalism and communications professor whom he says is his greatest mentor. Gordon, who received his bachelor’s degree in business finance, admits that he has a very broad portfolio that has added an interesting twist to his graduate studies.
Fisher was recently invited to the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., which is the nation’s main culture center for theater. Fisher taught workshops on the process of his play. He said it was through these workshops that he received a great deal of support from political and theatrical enthusiasts from across the United States.
“We have generated a lot of interest about the play and hope to see it progress from production in Logan,” Fisher said. “We ideally would like to see the play travel nationwide after our debut and eventually be seen in New York.”
The cast and crew of about 15 students is now rehearsing for the Jan. 26 debut at the Caine Lyric Theater in downtown Logan. “Scope” will be accompanied by three short plays, also about the war. Members of the company will write these shorts.
-sastewart@cc.usu.edu