Onstage, Trying to Connect to a Faraway War

Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times NYTCREDIT: Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times Students in a graduate acting program at New York University rehearsed a play meant to describe the experiences of soldiers serving in war and what happens when they return home.

Three blocks from Washington Square Park and more than 6,000 miles from Afghanistan, a group of graduate acting students ran through lines and tried to imagine something that for many in their generation is unimaginable: What’s it like to go to war and return home to a society that doesn’t understand hat you’ve been through

Over the past two months, using outside guests and extensive independent research, 15 New York University students have begun to challenge their own perceptions of a war that seems far removed from their lives. They are old enough to remember 9/11, yet, like many of their peers, they are largely unburdened by the military engagements that followed. Now, through the lens of theater, they have the opportunity to explore issues that will remain critical long after the last troops return home.

“I feel like I have a greater sensitivity to what’s happened,” said Julien Seredowych, 23, a student who plays a soldier. He talked about the emotional toll of merely rehearsing the scenes, and how the workshop had given him the tools to see his distance from the war in an honest way. “I might not know what they’ve been through, but I know a little bit about how to talk about it.”

Nearly a decade ago, Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros! , a playwright based in New York, struck up an unlikely friendship with Sgt. Mkesha Clayton, a veteran of the war in Iraq. Greatly inspired by Sergeant Clayton, she began writing a play that has evolved through a series of workshops, most recently at the Vineyard Theater, then Juilliard, and now, in its most in-depth exploration of the consequences of war, at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. (The workshop will culminate in several performances over the weekend.)

“Part of what Mkesha did for me and what we’ve tried to do with this project with the students is illuminate that rift, challenge it and then educate,” Ms. Gersten-Vassilaros said. She emphasized that the goal was to look at the issues in a nonpolitical way.

The resulting play, “Meantime War/ Meantime Home,” tells the story of Richard, a 19-year-old who goes to fight and returns home only to face symptoms of PTSD, a pregnant girlfriend and a family who tries desperately to understand what he has been throug.. In addition to incorporating new writing, this version of the play moves in two simultaneous acts on separate stages, one depicting “war” and the other “home.” Then the audience switches rooms, and the actors perform again. Janet Zarish directs the War Room, and Stephen Fried, the Home Room. The new structure allows for a deeper look at the “injuries of war, not just to the soldier but to the families of soldiers,” Ms. Gersten-Vassilaros said.

The actors, who are halfway through a three-year graduate program, came to New York from all over the United States, Canada, even the Middle East. Dina Shihabi, who was born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Dubai and Beirut, plays a foreign war widow. She explained that for her, theater has been an ideal way to look at the different facets of war.

“My family is Palestinian, so I’ve always had a very strong point of view and relationship to the conflict,” she said, referring to Israel and Palestine. But, “when your family is not di! rectly re! lated to something, I think it’s hard to get into it. Shows like this, it could be your family. That’s why theater and film is powerful.”

Along with readings and documentaries, an integral part of the workshop has been interactions with guests like Sergeant Clayton, who met with the actors early on. They also had visits from a West Point literature professor who was a pilot in the Army and a young woman whose family members served.

On a Monday in mid-January, the “War Room” students spent several hours with two former Green Berets. During an informal question-and-answer session, the students asked questions that included the technical (How do we pronounce “MOUT”) to the personal (How did you handle your fear) to the everyday (What video games were popular with soldiers Answer: Guitar Hero). Later, the Green Berets showed them how to properly hold their plastic mock M4s, emulate the flow of a raid and signal to a fellow soldier “all clear.” By day’s end, the students moved sealessly through the choreography of war.

“No matter how many people come up and shake your hand and say thank you for serving, hardly any of them ever comprehend even a drop of what we have been through,” said Sergeant Clayton, in a video recording that was later used to introduce these students to the project.

“Whether or not we began with a window or insight or a friend’s family, into this conflict,’’ said Libby Matthews, 26, a graduate student who plays a soldier, “we all certainly have one now.”