voices in conflict

it's NOT about the war, it's about the troops! (and mr lanza is correct. that IS what it's about) oh yeah, and principal canty is a giant weenie


Canceled school play about Iraq brings out real drama
Connecticut students find themselves in the national spotlight when their principal shuts down their play.

By Harry BruiniusWilton, Conn.

Stone-faced and grim, six boys from Wilton High School are marching in formation, stomping out the ominous rhythm of foot soldiers, and saluting from their chests. Together, they stop to shout: "For all the free people that still protest, you're welcome! You're welcome!"
It's a defiant rap, first written by U.S. Marines in Kuwait to taunt those who protested the first Gulf War, and now incorporated into a spring play, "Voices in Conflict," a dramatic series of monologues taken from interviews and letters from real soldiers in combat. This scene, however, has the most complicated stage directions, and Courtney Stack, a junior in charge of the choreography, is barking out orders, showing the boys how to move their feet and swing their shoulders as the pounding march becomes a flowing hip-hop groove. ........


Kids' Iraq Play Hits Big Stage After School Bars It
Wilton, Conn., Kids Get Standing Ovation for Off Broadway Performance

A group of high school students in a small Connecticut town wanted to perform a play telling the stories of actual soldiers in Iraq. But their school said no, afraid it might offend members of their community.
Although the students were silenced on their own stage in Wilton, Conn., they were given another -- Off Broadway in New York City.
Nick Lanza, a performer in the play, said it isn't about the war, it's about the troops.
"For us, it's pro-troops," Lanza said, "It's about the troops' feelings, what's happening to the troops, not whether or not war is an issue."..........

original posting and more voices