Portraits of Iraq War veterans makes ‘Someone Will Remember Us' unforgettable
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This world premiere production at Trinity Rep has been created in the same spirit as the company's 2006 production of Michelle Cruz's 'Boots on the Ground,' which told the true, poignant stories of Rhode Islanders deployed in Iraq. That play was crafted from interviews with nearly 70 soldiers and their families, medical workers, journalists, ministers, and other Americans caught up in the war.
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'Someone Will Remember Us' — with creative input from Cruz and
The telling of these stories is treated with the kid gloves they deserve by director Christopher Windom, who carefully sidesteps the unfortunate tendency of documentary dramas to be too heavy-handed in their earnestness, too political in their underlying intentions, or overly dramatic in their staging.
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In comparison, 'Someone Will Remember Us' whispers.
This production allows the poignancy of the words, which are directly addressed to the audience, to do the heavy lifting. The scenic design by Tanya Orellana is simple — a seating area in an airport terminal with metal benches and sliding glass panels surrounded by raised illuminated signage that specifies a time and place as the play progresses.
Costumes by Shahrzad Mazaheri, lighting by Emma Deane, and sound by Peter Sasha Hurowitz all serve to complement the dialogue, and do little to draw attention away from the eight-person ensemble, many of whom play multiple roles with the effective assistance of Sade Namei's dialect coaching.
Resident company members Stephen Thorne and Rachael Warren, along with Allison Jones, Ashley Aldarondo, Jihan Haddad, Dereks Thomas, Josephine Moshiri Elwood, and Jade Ziane are remarkably authentic in their portrayals. So much so that, at the end of the opening night performance, they — particularly Aldarondo and Jones, who portrayed fellow Marines and close friends of Charette — were as moved by their own performances as an audience comprised largely of show creators, fellow actors, and families of those represented in the play.
The only time this production turned the least political was upon the post-show announcement that
SOMEONE WILL REMEMBER US
Play by Deborah Salem Smith and Charlie Thurston. Directed by Christopher Windom. At Trinity Rep's Dowling Theater, 201 Washington St., Providence, R.I. Through Feb. 23. Tickets are $24-$90. 401-351-4242, trinityrep.com/attending/buy-tickets/
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Bob Abelman is an award-winning theater critic who formerly wrote for the Austin Chronicle. Connect with him
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