Thanks to an excellent production crew in the Erb Memorial Ballroom, our director John Schmor was able to make some really stunning and powerful adjustments to the play, all captured beautifully by Greg Omelchuck, our DP. Please enjoy, and add a comment if you feel moved to do so. Also, please pass this on to any and all of your friends, family and acquaintances who might be interested – this how we spread the word.

Planting, Hayhurst Farm (poem by Elyse Fenton)

As with the entirety of her performance, Christina Coombs brings tremendous power to her recitation of Elyse Fenton’s poem, power that is supported beautifully by John Schmor’s elegant and restrained staging and lighting. In a play that is marked by moments of tremendous intensity, this sequence is, in many ways, the emotional center.

Everyday

Shirley Cortez was a cargo elevator electrician in the US Navy, attached to the USS Chancellorsville in the Pacific fleet. Her experiences as a sailor and as a female make for a broad and complex performance, which she delivers with poise, intelligence and great sensitivity.

Ash Wednesday

This clip was referred to among the cast informally as “Ash Wednesday,” as that was the day on which the incident related occurred.  Joshua Coombs served, among many other places, in Al Taqaddam, Iraq in the US Marines Corps. This monologue is his recounting of a mortar attack that occurred within the first two weeks of his arrival.

Marine Ensemble

This clip starts with an ensemble piece involving the 3 Marines in the production, Shane Addis, Jeremy Coombs and Joshua Coombs, and concludes with a sequence performed by Jeremy and his wife Christina Coombs.  This latter sequence was adapted from transcripts of interviews with Peenesh Shah, US Army, and Elyse Fenton, his wife and a graduate student at UO during his deployment to Iraq.

Lemuel Charley

This is the opening sequence from the November performances in Eugene.  It features Lemuel Charley, 82nd Airborne Division, a veteran of Gulf War I, Bosnia and Haiti among countless other missions.  Lemuel is Dine’.  Footage was shot by Greg Omelchuck.

Promotional Spots

Greg Omelchuck edited and mixed these two promos, using footage shot by Dan Miller of the University of Oregon.

Spot – Vein of Stars

Spot – Under Pressure