(a drama of “don’t ask, don’t tell” in two acts)
Seth is a young Marine serving during wartime. Nicholas is his civilian husband who waits back home. In addition to the strain on their relationship caused by distance and absence, they must hide their love for one another behind code words and secret identities because of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the United States military.
Seth’s mother Anne assists them by providing the cover of a woman’s handwriting for Nicholas’ daily letters, but Nicholas and Seth’s resolve is starting to weaken.
Jonas, another young gay Marine in Seth’s unit just coming to terms with his identity, forms an intense bond with Seth overseas.
Tyson, a former Army soldier who got fed up with “don’t ask, don’t tell” and didn’t reenlist, now works alongside Nicholas, providing temptation as well as a reality check.
When Seth returns home for leave with Jonas at his side, and post-traumatic stress following him from the battlefield, old relationships are tested, and new ones bloom. In the end, the realities of war call on one man to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Cast of Characters
SETH LUNDY
male, late 20s/early 30s, a Marine
NICHOLAS DRAPER
male, late 20s/early 30s, Seth’s civilian husband
ANNE LUNDY
female, 50s, Seth’s mother
JONAS FISHMAN
male, late 20s/early 30s, a fellow Marine in Seth’s unit
TYSON BLYTH
male, late 20s/early 30s, former Army, a co-worker of Nicholas
TIME
2010, the year it all finally started to change
PLACE
Somewhere in the United States of America
RUN TIME
2 hours
Your silence will not protect you.
– Audre Lorde
“Starting this year, no American will be forbidden from serving the country they love because of who they love.”
– President Barack Obama’s 2011 State of the Union address
“Hearing That His Friend Was Coming Back From The War” – Wang Chien
In old days those who went to fight
In three years had one year’s leave.
But in this war the soldiers are never changed;
They must go on fighting till they die on the battlefield.
I thought of you, so weak and indolent,
Hopelessly trying to learn to march and drill.
That a young man should ever come home again
Seemed about as likely as that the sky should fall.
Since I got the news that you were coming back,
Twice I have mounted to the high wall of your home.
I found your brother mending your horse’s stall;
I found your mother sewing your new clothes.
I am half afraid; perhaps it is not true;
Yet I never weary of watching for you on the road.
Each day I go out at the City Gate
With a flask of wine, lest you should come thirsty.
Oh that I could shrink the surface of the world,
So that suddenly I might find you standing at my side!
(Logo/Poster design 2008 by Justin S. Latt)
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