LETTERS HOME Set for Marcus Center For The Performing Arts, 5/16-18

The Marcus Center for the Performing Arts has announced The Griffin Theatre Company's hit touring production of LETTERS HOME will perform at the Marcus Center's Vogel Hall on May 16-18 as part of the Off Broadway at the Marcus Center series.Tickets go on sale this Sunday, March 23 at 12:00 pm at the Marcus Center Box Office. Tickets can be purchased in person at 929 North Water Street, Downtown Milwaukee, by phone at 414-273-7206 or online at Ticketmaster.com or MarcusCenter.org. Groups 10 or more call Group Sales at 414-273-7121 ext. 210. A Veterans Discount for $25 tickets is available through the Marcus Center box office. Also, a limited number of complimentary tickets are available for active and retired veterans. Contact the box office for restrictions and more information at 414-273-7206.

The production adapted by Artistic Director, William Massolia and directed by ensemble member, Kevin Kingston puts the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan front and center by bringing to life actual letters written by troops serving in the Middle East. Since its original run at the Chicago Cultural Center in January 2007 the production has become one of the most sought after national touring shows and has received critical acclaim throughout the United States. The production has been seen by over 50,000 people in 35 major US cities.

The production is inspired by the New York Times Op-Ed Article, The Things They Wrote and the subsequent HBO documentary, Last Letters Home and additionally uses letters and correspondences from Frank Schaeffer's books, Voices From the Front, Letters Home From America's Military Family, Faith of Our Sons, and Keeping Faith. The play without politicizing gives audiences a powerful portrait of the soldier experience in the ongoing wars.

Although the title of the play implies that all the letters are from soldiers, the production chooses to include a small number of correspondences from parents - their words, being no less important. These letters were written under the most difficult of circumstances; the disorientation of training, deployment, separation from family and loved ones and combat, and occupation duties in Afghanistan and Iraq. One theme seems to unite their diverse voices; the belief that the person standing beside you is more important than you are. They also help define for the audience-patriotism and what it means to serve our country today, through acts of bravery, compassion, social responsibility, sense of community and brotherhood. Collectively the production gives a voice to a generation that went to war against terror in Afghanistan and to war in Iraq, for reasons that are still being debated and who are still fighting and dying in those wars today and reveals the humanity that lies within the war as seen through the eyes of the men and women fighting it.

LETTERS HOME will be presented on Friday, May 16 at 8:00 pm, Saturday, May 17 at 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm and Sunday, May 18 at 2:00 pm. Tickets to LETTERS HOME are $35, and go on sale this Sunday, March 23 at 12:00 pm at the Marcus Center Box Office.

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