Veteran's Day Week Presentations of Pulitzer-Nominated Play, WAR WORDS to Be Presented In NYC, L.A. & More

Honoring Veteran's Day, The Atlantic Council, NewYorkRep, and The United States Veterans' Artists Alliance present War Words, the Pulitzer Prize-nominated docu-play by Michelle Kholos Brooks, in the words of the men and women who served in the U.S. Military during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

A New York presentation will take place Tuesday, November 9, 7:30PM at The Intrepid (Pier 86, 12th Ave at 46th Street, New York, NY), with a talk-back to follow. A Los Angeles presentation will take place Thursday, November 11th, 7:30PM at The Actors' Gang Theater (9070 Venice Blvd, Culver City, CA), with a reception to follow. Both presentations are free and open to the public with online registration.

With casts of actors featuring US. Military veterans, the New York presentation features Joe Quintero, Cara Akselrad, Dave Powers, Maggie Bofill, Morgan Zipf-Meister, Sid Williams, Reynaldo Piniella, Alex Ferree, Peter Collier, Rudy Galvin, and Maribel Martinez. The L.A. presentation features Lucy DeVito, Kim Estes, Brian Lescher, Cara Akselrad, Zach Grant, Satiar Pourvasei, Alice Rietveld, James Bane, Kate Miller, Jason Olazabal, Shaun Baker, Ian Castleberry, Steve Spiro, Ron Bottitta, Christopher Sweeney, and Drea Garcia.

The LA presentation marks the launch of NewYorkRep West which was delayed due to COVID.

Retired US Army General David H. Petraeus experienced an early workshop presentation of War Words offering the following endorsement: "Few Americans enjoy close, personal relationships with service men and women and their families, and that fact risks veterans remaining at arms-length. This gap is no one's fault or dereliction. It exists as a natural consequence of the fact that proportionally fewer and fewer Americans serve in the military, and those who do are mostly concentrated in small geographies across the country. Still, if Americans' admiration and gratitude toward warriors is fulsome but bereft of real affinity, we suffer a kind of civic deficit which, among other adverse effect, can erode citizens' engagement with the hard problems and big opportunities for which American leadership in the world is critically important. That's where the play, War Words, comes to bear. It is an inspiring and entertaining work that gets right after this 'affinity gap and serves the civic purpose for Veterans Day."

"Michelle Kholos Brooks and NewYorkRep have felt that there was always a need for civilians to better understand the motivation and sacrifice one makes to serve," says Gayle Waxenberg, Founding Artistic Director of NewYorkRep. "Now we feel even more compelled to give voice to our veterans in light of the recent and ongoing situation in Afghanistan. Presenting a free presentation of War Words during Veteran's Day feels like a civic responsibility. The importance of this piece is noted by the generosity of our sponsors:"

"I'm filled with gratitude having this as my first piece of work with NewYorkRep and collaborating with the talented playwright, Michelle Brooks," says NewYorkRep's new Artistic Director and Director of War Words Justin Reinsilber. "Having veteran actors in our cast adds immeasurable meaning to this project."

In addition to the New York and Los Angeles presentations, War Words will also be presented in Forth Worth, TX; Miami, FL; Philadelphia, PA; and Syracuse, NY.