New York Debut of WAR STORIES: A Veterans Project— at Brooklyn Academy of Music on June 22 | Press Releases

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (May 25, 2017)—Using courageous storytelling as an entry point, this important, timely, unique and collaborative project, WAR STORIES: A Veterans Project gives voice to the voiceless. Homeless veterans from ARBI/Homes for the Brave share their stories in a full-length performance work. The evening will feature a cast of 10 male and female veterans, giving voice to what they experienced during their time of service and, perhaps more significantly, what they have dealt with since they left and their integration back into society.

Bold monologues based on veterans’ real-life experiences battling addiction, homelessness, loves and losses are the basis for WAR STORIES: A Veterans Project , that moved and humbled audiences when it premiered to sold out houses at Fairfield’s Quick Center for the Arts on March 31.

The project, backed by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Connecticut Office of the Arts and Fairfield’s Quick Center is a collaboration between producer Steve Ruchefsky, writer Sonya Huber, artist Nina Bentley and theatre-maker and Director of the Quick Center Peter Van Heerden, with veteran performers from ARBI/Homes for the Brave in Bridgeport, Conn., an organization that has provided transitional housing, vocational training, job placement and life skills coaching to veterans since 2002.

In one of the first stories from the group, the audience meets Ron, originally from South Korea; a homeless veteran of the U.S. Army who has suffered substance abuse addiction because he fell in with the wrong crowd once in the service. In and out of jail for more than two decades, Ron — now 16 months sober — said he has found the production to be an empowering and confidence building experience.

Then they meet James — a Brooklyn, N.Y. native who was a college football star and used the Coast Guard as a way to help pay for his education. James now suffers from PTSD and is a recovering addict. After leaving the service, he found the transition back into civilian life filled with challenges. Homes for the Braves has assisted him in his sobriety. Telling his story has helped him to take stock of how far he’s come.

Steve, an airborne soldier says his war story began when he was three years old. Born into a family of humble circumstances, Steve fled domestic abuse at the age of 14. Soon after, he was sent into the military by the court as an alternative form or sentencing, and spent six years in the service. The military was a refuge of sorts for Steve, but his war story continued once back on U.S. soil.

Don’t miss WAR STORIES: A Veterans Project at the Brooklyn Academy of Musicon Thursday, June 22 at 8 p.m. Tickets, on sale now, $20.

For more information on tickets, please visit Brooklyn Academy of Music – Fishman Space, 321 Ashland Place, Brooklyn, NY

Tickets: BAM Box Office 718-636-4100, info@bam.org

Posted On: 05-25-2017 03:05 PM

Volume: 49 Number: 170

Fairfield University is a Jesuit University, rooted in one of the world’s oldest intellectual and spiritual traditions. More than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students from 36 states, 47 foreign countries, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are enrolled in the University’s five schools. In the spirit of rigorous and sympathetic inquiry into all dimensions of human experience, Fairfield welcomes students from diverse backgrounds to share ideas and engage in open conversations. The University is located in the heart of a region where the future takes shape, on a stunning campus on the Connecticut coast just an hour from New York City.