PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles Community Playhouse will open “Pvt. Wars” at 7:30 tonight.
The play tells the story of three Vietnam veterans recuperating in an Army hospital and showing humor and compassion with honesty about healing their scars.
Tickets are $15 with reserved seating and $8 for students at the playhouse, 1235 E. Lauridsen Blvd.
Tickets are half price at the door for Tuesday night performances with an audience talkback with the cast and crew immediately following the performance.
Tickets can be purchased online at pacommunity players.org, at Brocante Antiques, 105 W. First St., or at the door prior to performance.
Performances are scheduled for today through Oct. 6 on Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 7:30 p.m. Sunday matinee shows are slated for 2 p.m.
Due to some strong language and content, this show is recommended for mature audiences.
“Pvt. Wars” tells the story of three soldiers recovering from their Vietnam War injuries in the recreation room of an Army hospital.
Gately (Jonas Brown), a hillbilly, fiddles compulsively with a disemboweled radio. Silvio (Jeff Ryser), a streetwise, big-city type, is addicted to “flashing.”
Natwick, (Michael Sickles), a prissy “rich kid” from Long Island, writes letters to his mother telling her how much he wants to become a close friend of Gately while omitting mention of how actively Silvio dislikes him.
Through a series of linked scenes these wounded soldiers tease, torment, entertain, exasperate and, on occasion, comfort each other as they deal with the visible and invisible scars of the Vietnam conflict.
“Pvt. Wars” was performed by the Port Angeles Community Players as a Second Stage presentation about 10 years ago and was directed by Pat Owens.
Owens returns again as director for this main stage presentation, the first show of the Players’ 2019-20 season.
“Doing this show again gives me an opportunity to, for the first time, cast actors who weren’t even born during the Vietnam conflict,” Owens said.
“I was interested in getting this whole new perspective on the play, its characters and the ongoing plight of all veterans regardless of which war.
“For many the conflict doesn’t end just because they’re home.”
Designed as a one-act play, playwright James McLure’s “Pvt. Wars” was first presented off-Broadway in 1979 after productions at the Humana Festival in Louisville, Ky. Its London premier was in 1991 at the Greenwich Studio Theatre with actors Billy Lomas, Dorian Lough and Pancho Russell.
McLure died in 2011 at age 59 after writing many plays, including “Lone Star,” “Laundry and Bourbon,” “1959 Pink Thunderbird,” “Thanksgiving,” “The Day They Shot John Lennon,” “The River Cane” and an adaptation of John O’Keefe’s 18th century comedy, “Wild Oats.”
For more information about “Pvt. Wars” at the Port Angeles Community Playhouse, contact Barbara Frederick at 360-477-5044.
Jeff Ryser (playing Silvio), Michael Sickles (playing Natwick) and Jonas Brown (playing Gately) interact with each other during a scene from “Pvt. Wars,” a play about three Vietnam War veterans recuperating in an Army hospital. (Amy McIntyre)
