Looking back at PVT. Wars
For over two months Jon Stewart, Matt McDonough, and I rehearsed for Ed Hughe's production of Pvt. Wars by James McLure. It was Ed's senior studio show here at SHU and he chose us to play the three Vietnam vets living in a mental hospital. I played the lead, Gately; Jon played Silvio; and Mic played Natwick. It certainly made my Spring 2005 semester much more interesting than it normally would have been, even if by the end every one of us would be completely sick.
SILVIO: At present Gately, science doesn't know how much the sperm knows...
Last year, around the same time, I was in Ed's 10-minute play he had to direct (The Field), which was also about Vietnam. That play took place during the war, however... this time I was a vet, sitting in a mental home working on fixing a radio in order to stay sane. And unlike that 10 minute play, Pvt. Wars is over 40 minutes in length. I've never had a lead this big before.
Working with Ed is something I always look forward to. He's got the most extensive warm-up process I've ever seen in my life. At first I dreaded getting there and saying those tongue twisters, or doing his dammed "arm circles in the forward direction of forwardness" but by the end I knew I was going to miss doing them. We took things slow during the first month or so, just blocking things out and working on lines. I was worried I would have a terrible time memorizing all the lines I had in this show (but, of course after a few weeks of running it, they just came naturally).
GATELY: That's right, and if everybody would fight their own private wars, things would be all right.
Throughout the entire rehearsal process, someone was sick. Jon got a relapse of mono for a few days early on, Ed got bronchitis, Mic would mysteriously get ill from time to time. But during the last two weeks of the rehearsal, everything seemed to crumble. I was diagnosed with mono after being sick for two weeks, and Ed and Mic both got upper respiratory infections. We had to push on, however, for the sake of Ed's grade.
The play debuted for one night only, Mothers Day, at 6:30PM. It opened to a full house filled with family, friends and SHU students. And we all managed to push our illnesses aside and put on a hell of a show. In the end, when we all took that final bow (me in nothing but boxers), we all breathed a sigh of relief.