I Won't Forget the Men Who Died

I was going through a shelf on my book case today, considering what I should keep and what I should get rid of as I am running out of shelf space. I came across the portfolio book that I had to make as part of my Senior Capstone Project. As most of you know, that project was to direct "All My Sons," which I did in early 2002.

I chose the play in the Spring of 2001 and was already heavy into the dramaturgy when September 11th happened. By the play was performed, our nation's involvement in Afganistan was still fresh and we had not yet gone into Iraq. At the time, I had no idea how relevant the issues raised in my play would become.

I read the program from the play today and thought about how much I learned about the character of our nation by directing the play. Yet, as I read the director's notes, I realize how much more the sacrifice of our young men means to me now that we, as a society, are seeing the sacrifices for real. I have decided to publish the Director's Note on the back of the All My Sons Program here with the admonishment to remember what you have and what it has meant for you to have it.

"Finally the Word Came-Let's go- and there we were in combat, something new in my life. But, oh, What an experience...pulled myself together and tried to locate my outfit...But, what was left of them, just a handful, about 26 out of 160."
-PFC Dom Bart
-From War Letters
-Ed. by Andrew Caroll

When I began working on "All My Sons," I had no idea how much this powerful script would change me. The power behind "All My Sons" is that it begins as a common story. It is the story of any family in the mid to late nineteen forties. As Joe says, "That's what a war does. It changed all the tallies. I had two sons, now I got one." But unlike other families, this one has something to hide. No other script that I have ever worked with addresses so clearly and successfully the anguish of death, the ecstacy of love and the terror of a past that will not fade. No other script presents so skillfully the impact of that Great War on the individual family that was changed by it. Hundreds of thousands of men gave life and limb to secure the freedom of people thousands of miles away. we hope that this production will move each audience member to, as Chris says, "bring that to Earth again, as some kind of monument," and it will remind people that, "when you drive that new car, you've got to know that it came out of the love a man can have for a man. You've got to be a little better because of that."

January 2002.