Reply #1: Objection was that 'both sides' not represented? IT'S A PLAY, not the news!

[havocmom]

Why don't the people who objected complain about the fact that NEWS BROADCASTS don't show all sides of the Iraq occupation?

A play is art, not fair & balanced journalism.

Since the production of the play, Dickinson has sought out contact with veterans, particularly those depicted in the play. Standing ovations and student actors seeking autographs greeted the several veterans present in the audience at the Public Theater production. When asked how he felt about the students' portrayal of some of the soldiers' most pained and private reflections, Charles Anderson, now active in Iraq Veterans Against the War, responded, "I knew they were sincere." During the talkback session following the June 15 performance, an audience member asked whether war is good for art. "War isn't good for anything," dramaturge Willy Holtzman responded later that night. "But war obligates us to make better art." And perhaps art--in this case, sixteen "kids from Connecticut" on stage--can bring us deeper into the ethical questions posed by war.

"When asked how he felt about the students' portrayal of some of the soldiers' most pained and private reflections, Charles Anderson, now active in Iraq Veterans Against the War, responded, "I knew they were sincere."

Bravo to the students. They are patriots. They are good citizens. They were sincere.

Send the school administrators back to school. They obviously missed a few very important lessons. And they were disingenuous. THEY were the ones who were disrespectful of the sacrifices of our troops. They attempted to silence students' honest attempt at seriously addressing a very important issue in a thought provoking and educational manner. Shame on them.