|
 Nebraska
by Keith Reddin
September 7-22, 1990
Directed by Rhonda Clark
It’s the end of the Cold
War, but for the men and women stationed at an air force base outside of Omaha,
the tensions of existence seem to increase each day. Dean Swift has been
transferred to missile silo duty. Seventy feet underground, in a sealed launch
center, the twenty-four-hour shifts take their toll on Swift, his wife, Julie,
and his duty partner, Fielding. Dean entered the service, like his father before
him, hoping to find a purpose to his life. Instead, he realizes that his choice
of profession is a tragic mistake. Fielding, by contrast, is an enthusiastic
product of military thinking, secure in the identity given him by his regimented
duties. Swift’s commanding officer, Major Gurney, has problems of his own. His
wife, Carol, is bored with the life on base and tries to drown her sorrows in
alcohol and a series of adulterous affairs. Sooner or later they all begin to
lose their center in a barren landscape of loneliness and despair. NEBRASKA asks
the question, "What is the cost of keeping the peace?"
- Dramatists
Play Service, Inc.
DIRECTOR'S NOTES:
I saw the first production of
NEBRASKA by Keith Reddin at La Jolla Playhouse in California in the summer of
1989, and to my knowledge, this is its second US production.
When I first saw
the play, I was struck by the uniqueness of a missile base as a setting for a
play, but most importantly, by the incredibly real, human situations Reddin
creates for his characters. Countless times during rehearsals, an actor or I
have said "I've lived this" or "I've said these things to my
boyfriend" or "I've seen this character in a bar somewhere". You
may never have been involved with the military (neither have most of us in this
production!), but if you, our audience, leave the theatre saying, "I know
some of those characters in real life", then we will have succeeded.
Several times in the last few
weeks since the problems have exploded in the Middle East, people have
commented, "How timely. When did you pick this play about military
officers?" Of course, it was selected many months ago, and it is very
unfortunate that our minds are now focussed on U.S. servicemen shipping out for
overseas. Let us all hope for their quick and safe return
- Rhonda Clark
(Webmaster's note: These
notes would have been written around the time of Operation Desert Shield - in
preparation for the Gulf War.)
|
