“The cost of war is paid in bone and blood and flesh. It’s paid in tears.”
Those aren’t just the words of a writer. They are the words of a soldier. Capt. Ryan Kelly is a Black Hawk helicopter pilot who served for 13 years in the Army National Guard and for 13 months in Iraq.
Kelly retired in January and is integrating back into an America where real war coverage is viewed by many as a cable-surfing amusement sandwiched between fictional episodes of “Jericho” and “The Unit.” Where millions watch absurd, hyperbolic scenes of torture on “24” and “Lost,” oblivious to the real, raging controversy over the U.S. government’s policy on torture.
Kelly, a 38-year old graduate of Arapahoe High School, tackles torture in his new play “Rendition,” which will be presented May 6 by Stories on Stage as a reading directed by Anthony Powell.
The U.S. doesn’t sanction extreme torture. But it sanctions “rendering” – the transfer of war prisoners from U.S. custody to another party with fewer qualms about using torture to elicit information. It’s a handwashing policy of torture by proxy. “Rendition” suggests if rendering is going to be the U.S. government’s official policy, its people need to understand what it means – and its ramifications.
In the play, set in present-day Iraq, a female U.S. soldier disappears on a convoy. Her rescuers, including the soldier she loves, grab up an Iraqi man who may have information on her whereabouts. Responding to emotional and physical torture, he gives up information that may or may not be accurate.
“In our culture, torture and war are often viewed as entertainment, but anytime you are fighting a war, you are asked to make decisions you wouldn’t wish on anyone, and you are asked to be put into situations that could go terribly wrong,” said Kelly. “That is not entertainment. That is definitely real.
“I am trying to convey with this play that when you torture someone, you are actually hurting another person. That’s not a political statement. It’s a personal statement.”
The war has profoundly affected Kelly as a human being and as a soldier.
“As a human being, I think what’s going on over there is terrible,” he said. “I wish that it were different, but it’s not.
“And as a soldier, I want to win the damn thing. To the people who are fighting it, both there and here, I am eternally grateful. And by that, I mean all the people in uniform and out – the families and everyone slapping soldiers on the back and saying ‘Good job.’ But as a soldier, I also want to know what the next step is. I want to know, ‘What is victory?’ and I don’t think we have ever been presented with that definition.”
Kelly is an accomplished journalist, but he first gained national attention as a writer last year when the New Yorker printed two of his letters from Iraq to his mother, Lynn Kelly, a well-known area public-relations specialist.
“Rendition” will be read at 2 p.m. May 6 at the Jones Theatre at the Denver Performing Arts Complex. Stories on Stage has never before included a staged reading of a play in its programming, so that gives you an idea of what founder Norma Moore thinks of the piece.
The cast is made up of mostly members of the Denver Center’s National Theatre Conservatory. Cost $5-$15; call 303-494-0523.
Briefly …
Leonard Barrett (PHAMALy’s “Our Town”) has assumed the role of Coalhouse Walker from Jeffrey Nickelson for the duration of Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s four-star “Ragtime,” closing May 26. Nickelson always had been slated to leave early because of conflicts running his Shadow Theatre, but he’s been seriously ill of late, prompting the earlier change …
The new Crossroads at 5 Points Theatre is looking good, but delays in getting a certificate of occupancy have pushed back opening night of “Bold Girls” to May 11 …
Congrats to Eric Gunhus, the 1988 graduate of Ponderosa High School who sang “Springtime for Hitler” in Broadway’s megahit “The Producers” from its beginning in 2001 to its closing April 22. Gunhus was one of nine original cast members to leave with the show, his Broadway debut. “Dreams evolve, and goals change,” he said, “but once in a while, the stars align, and dreams come true.” …
The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center has named Alan Osburn to head its theater troupe, newly renamed the Fine Arts Center Theatre Company …
Shelly Bordas is moving ahead with her re-organization of Theatre Group. “I am implementing new programs and collaborations, designing a season and building an entire new board of directors,” said Bordas, who is hosting an all-comers informational meeting at 11 a.m. Saturday at 13 S. Broadway …
Aspen humorist Barry Smith, winner of the New York International Fringe Festival’s 2005 outstanding solo show award, debuts his second work, “American Squatter,” at 8:30 p.m. Saturday and May 6 at Steve’s Guitars in Carbondale. It’s his journey of adolescent rebellion from squeaky-clean Mississippi suburbanite to London squatter. A nine-city North American tour follows (970-963-3304) …
And finally … is anyone in Colorado theater busier than the Paul family? You can catch mother Michelle Paul in the Arvada Center’s “Do I Hear a Waltz?,” father Ken in Town Hall’s “1776” and son Adam in the Main Street Players’ “Grease.” And that’s not all. “Our daughter, Anna is in the Academy of Theatre Arts’ children’s show at Country Dinner Playhouse,” said Ken. “Only Marie, our graduating senior, is not doing a show right now.”
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
This week’s theater openings
MAY 3-JULY 14 | Metro Playhouse’s “Something’s Afoot” | GRAND JUNCTION
MAY 4-20 | openstage etc.’s “True West” | FORT COLLINS
MAY 4-26 | E-Project’s “Twentieth Century” | LAKEWOOD
This week’s theater closings
TODAY | Miners Alley Playhouse’s “Tuesdays With Morrie” | GOLDEN
TODAY | Main Street Players’ “Grease” | ENGLEWOOD
TODAY | Performance Now’s “Gypsy” | LAKEWOOD
SAT | OpenStage’s “Picnic” | FORT COLLINS
SAT | Theatre 13’s “Once Upon a Time: The End” | BOULDER
SAT | Coal Creek Community Theatre’s “The Mousetrap” | LOUISVILLE
MAY 6 | Country Dinner Playhouse’s “Guys & Dolls” | GREENWOOD VILLAGE
MAY 6 | Town Hall Arts Center’s “1776” | LITTLETON
MAY 6 | Germinal Stage Denver’s “Razzle Dazzle: A Saroyan Circus”
MAY 6 | Union Colony Dinner Theatre’s “Steel Magnolias” | GREELEY
MAY 6 | Jesters Dinner Theatre’s “Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)” | LONGMONT
