Prairie Theatre Exchange: This is War

 This is War

by Hannah Moscovitch, contributing writer to CBC Radio's AFGHANADA

February 21 - March 10

Preview - February 20

This one thing always runs in my head. I want to do right by my guys. I’m responsible for them, for their lives. It’s on me. That’s the main thing. I want to do right by my guys.

Four soldiers in Afghanistan are being interviewed about an incident all too common in war, but unimaginably horrifying to those of us safe at home. 

Four different perspectives draw the audience into the soldier’s reality, where the split second in which the decision is made to shoot or not shoot is the very essence of war. 

What is the aftermath of that kind of experience?  

Lisa Berry          Master Corporal Tanya Young
John Cleland      Captain Stephen Hughes
Ian Lake            Private Jonny Henderson (until March 3)
Brendan Murray  (Medic) Sergeant Chris Anders
Kevin Walker      Private Jonny Henderson (March 5-10)

Artistic Director Robert Metcalfe says: We’ve been at war as a nation for a decade and rarely explore what that means and what the real costs are to the people we send to fight, to the country we are trying to build or to ourselves.  

Moscovitch’s play is part of the conversation we need.

See the trailer                       

See an interview with the playwright

Audience advisory: violence, sexuality and explicit language.

Running Time: 90 minutes, no intermission

Review: "...a smart, compelling theatrical gut-punch." Joff Schmidt, CBC Scene.