Theater for Community presented an original play, “Gathering Shells,” March 1 to March 4 at the Long Wharf Theatre, Stage II, in New Haven. Crystal Brian, theater professor and chairwoman of visual and performing arts, directed.
Brian and Allan Garry, a Vietnam veteran and poet, wrote the script loosely based on Stephen Crane's novel "The Red Badge of Courage." The play examines the impact of war and trauma on those who fight and on those at home to whom soldiers return when the battle is over.
“The play explores what it means to us as a nation to constantly absorb traumatized veterans into our midst,” Brian said. “With the play we hope to make people aware that attention must be paid, and we have paid far too little attention to what happens to soldiers after the battle. The war continues for them here at home, and too often they suffer in silence.”
Students, alumni and faculty members performed with veterans from the Homefront Theater of the Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System of West Haven.
Theater for Community recently received the Region 1 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Award for Social Impact. The award presentation was reported in the New Haven Register.