One of Our Inspirations

David listed a few things that inspired our creation of Sons of the Revolution: George Carlin’s very funny speech on the war-like nature of our country, the Gary Sinise character from Forrest Gump, and of course, the Oklahoma City bombing and the first Persian Gulf War.

I would like to list a few others over the next few weeks.

One "inspiration" is definitely my early realization that terrible brutality against Jewish people didn’t start and end with the Holocaust.

I remember in the early 1980s getting hold of a 1976 Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Irving Howe called World of Our Fathers. Yes, I was 12 – I WAS a VERY precocious child... (Seriously, I have always read a lot - and that has helped immensely with my part in the writing of this play.)

The book I read oh, lo, those many years ago...was about the 19th-century Russian Jews escaping the bloody pogroms of the shtetl to come to the “relative peace” of America. However, when these Jewish immigrants arrived here between 1888 and 1910ish – after passing through Immigration – they were met with hatred and even violence – the same sort of hostility America often still has today toward many other immigrants.

Anyone who has read or seen Ragtime (the movie or the musical, both based on the beautiful E.L. Doctorow book) has some idea of the violence and its affect on American history.

I still feel so lucky that David and I were able to include this aspect in our play. I believe it adds a powerful facet to the questions our script asks about humanity and its application of brute force and violence.

Curtain Up!

Salutations and Welcome!

This blog is intended to chronicle the journey of an exciting theatrical work entitled Sons of the Revolution, written by David Almeida (davidroz) & Stephen J. Miller (schmacko). As we progress, we hope the producers, artistic staff, and performers will all be contributing to some sort of "whole" that might be greater than the sum of its parts.

The play has been selected to be presented with a full theatrical production by Playwright's Round Table of Orlando, Florida, our home city. Production dates are currently in limbo, pending (what we hope will be) a postponement from early Summer to late Summer/Early fall. Currently on board is our producer, PRT Board Member Chuck Dent. We are thrilled to be working with Chuck and we genuinely like him and feel comfortable that he will steer this project to success while giving us authors the creative input necessary to see that our work is presented with our artistic vision in tact. (That's what the date change is about. They picked our play, we said, "Thank you," and immediately followed it with, "We hate the dates, can you change them?" And they're actually trying for us. God Bless Them every one!)

So, while we're waiting for the news of when the play is actually going up... leave us turn back the clock.

Steve and I wrote the play in 1999 after the success of our campy gay dramedy Leaving Neverland (LONG before the Johnny Depp film Finding Neverland was in production!). When asked what our next project would be about, we would reply, "The history of violence in American culture." !!??!! Definitely not our typical type of project. Yet at the same time it was a theme about which we were surprised to discover we both felt very strongly. After the Oklahoma City bombing, America was still reeling from the notion that there could ever be a terrorist act committed on American soil. This had never happened before in our entire history, why now? We both realized a short while before that we had something to say on this subject. (And, yes, we came up with this before the 9/11 terrorist attacks.)

Picture it. Orlando. 1998. I believe we were riding home from the Pat Andrews-Fred Berliner Christmas party some time in December when Steve confessed to me and my then-boyfriend Glenn Rilke that the Oklahoma City incident was horrible, yet at the same time he also thought it was somewhat of a miracle that such an act hadn't happened sooner - and to a much more severe degree. Expecting me to be somewhat repulsed by such a statement, I surprised him when I said, "I have thought the same thing, too." I then started quoting a George Carlin stand-up routine where he takes America to task for the fact that it has been involved in some type of war every 20 years in our very young 220 years as a nation. He went through our systematic elimination and/or conflict with every non-white culture on the planet. The routine was capped with, "When was the last time that we attacked white people? Germany in World War II. Why? Because they wanted to dominate the world - BULLSHIT, THAT'S OUR FUCKING JOB!", followed by his wonderful vocal sound effects of bombs being dropped. A different album of his contained references to how Americans are a war-like people. If there is a social or political problem, how do we combat it? Declare war! The War on Poverty, the War on AIDS, the War on Drugs... this is something deeply ingrained in our collective psyche as Americans and history shows that it dates all the way back to the birth of our nation. Americans didn't become this way, we were born this way. (Do you see why two gay playwrights would be attracted to the subject matter?)

As we started to bounce around ideas of how we could make such a vast statement in one play, our main characters emerged: a Soldier who had served in the American Armed Forces and the Lawyer who would be defending him at his trial. Character traits flew - the Soldier would be the latest in a long line of Service Men and every one of his ancestors fought in one of our wars. (Inspired by Gary Sinise's character in Forrest Gump.) He would be stricken with Gulf War Syndrome, the unexplained series of ailments that befell many of the men and women (and their offspring) who served in Operation Desert Storm after their return home.

As a playwright, I know that the best ideas take work, but the writing itself comes easily -- if you have a good idea, a solid foundation, and do your work so that you understand your subject matter. At that point it takes on a life of its own. In my case, I was also blessed with an extremely disciplined co-author who took it upon himself to do the research and create the framework and outlines for what we knew would be a sweeping, epic journey. I make no bones about it. I could never have written this play by myself. I think Steve could have done it without me, but it probably wouldn't be quite as good. (At least God I hope not.) He put a much larger amount of work into this piece than I did in its formative stages. Steve is a much better playwright than he is an editor. And I am a much better editor than I am a playwright. That is why we work so well together. Steve and I conceived SOTR, he birthed it, but we have raised it together.

Playwrights' Round Table did a staged reading of the play in June of 2002 at the Maitland Jewish Community Center under the direction of the wonderful Mark Mannette. It was extrememly well-received, though we were also concerned that our opinions may be very unpopular. And the biggest of all our fears - was the show entertaining? ENTERTAINING - that is a touchy word to use in Orlando... Unfortunately due to our local theme-park culture, its connotations imply smiling young dancers, lovable animal characters, pyrotechnics, flying doves, puppets, 3-D glasses, etc. Let me clarify here that we meant it in the most textbook sense of the word: Did it entertain you? Did it keep your attention? Yes, you can write an "important" play about hot social topics. Yes, people can sit there and say that they disagree, agree, or at the very least appreciate the work you have put into it. BUT - would the people sit there and say they were glad they were taken on this journey? That they felt something for the characters? That it made them think or ask questions of themselves? That the play was worthy of their time? Response was a very strong yes, during the talkback facilitated by PRT's David McElroy. It definitely deserved a life beyond this reading and needed to go to the next level. (Hey, we should post the original cast here at some point. Steve, do you have that? I might have to dig a bit to get it...)

Anyway, let me shut my pie-hole for the moment and let the Divine Mr. M throw in his two cents' worth and talk about the conception, and creation of the play.

I hope our dear readers find this blog entertaining, too...

The Synopsis

"It is the mid-1990s and public defender Daniel Kinderland is fighting to save his client, an American soldier, from the death penalty.

"Defendant William Westfall is a highly decorated Marine found guilty of domestic terrorism. After being honorably discharged after Operation Desert Storm, Westfall comes home to mysterious medical illnesses. He also finds the US Veteran’s Administration unable or unwilling to provide answers. A year after Westfall’s tour of duty, his wife gives birth to a severely deformed child. As Westfall’s marriage falls apart and his daughter’s health slowly fails, the soldier’s frustration, rage, and sense of powerlessness culminate in an act of terrorism against his country.

"Sons of the Revolution opens after Westfall has been found guilty. Attorney Kinderland is making a last plea for Westfall’s life before the sentencing phase. Kinderland praises the Marine’s service and appeals to the hearts and minds of an unseen jury. Slowly an expansive odyssey emerges that traces defendant Westfall’s own ancestry through every major US war or conflict since the beginning of the nation. The “ghosts” of Westfall’s family tree emerge to complete a tale of American military service, US history, and its accompanying violence.

"Simultaneously, lawyer Kinderland is guided by the spirit of his dead great-grandfather, a rabbi who fled the violent shtetls of Russia for the relative peace and hope of America. Kinderland’s heritage and its beliefs in pacifism and the sanctity of human life are challenged by Westfall and his crimes.

"Thirdly, we see the media coverage, political machinations, and strong personal emotions that surround the court case and create a miasma that precludes objectivity and understanding.

"Sons of the Revolution is an epic play achieved with just thirteen actors. Many performers are given the chance to play two or more strong, varying roles. Characters encompass two centuries in the Unites States’ past. Overlapping scenes and non-linear structure combine with brisk storytelling to create a unique theatrical experience. A very successful workshop at the Maitland Jewish Community Center was roundly praised for its complexity, wit, and balanced insight.

"Sons of the Revolution is an absorbing script about domestic terrorism, American history, and the agendizing of violence into national and personal ideologies. It is not a play that offers easy answers, but instead provides challenging questions in an entertaining and dynamic drama."

Well, all of that may not make it on the back cover of the DVD. But this is what Steve submitted to PRT that ultimately aided in the play being chosen. Him be writing good, ain't he?