Guest Column: Tracers Gets — and Deserves — Standing Ovations

By Robin DiGeorgio

This play provides strong medicine for we attendees…

War is never pretty regardless of what war it may be and the Vietnam War was no exception.  Each of the eight actors in this production offers up a powerful and emotionally riveting performance.

I attended last Saturday evening and found myself at times sitting on the edge of my seat, awash with palpable tension.  I was, also, unnerved by the brutality foisted on the new recruits and then watched as they internalized that brutality, as they struggled to find their own coping mechanisms, be they brutal or unrealistic, in the wake of the war they had become a part of and were determined to survive.

I laughed at the irony, the simplicity and the truthfulness they uttered and I was moved to tears on more than one occasion.  By the play’s end, the six recruits had become strongly bonded and I felt the strength of their connections.

The language in this play is strong but it is also true to the language of that time.  Seen in that manner, it can not be labeled ‘obscene’.

1965 was a very different time. The United States was a very different country then.  The veterans returning home from Vietnam War, for the most part, were not considered heroes and, as such, were left to struggle to make sense of their lives, given all that they had experienced.  This play was created as an outgrowth of that situation.

These eight young men, the majority of whom were born after the Vietnam War ended, deserve a standing ovation, which they received last Saturday night.  Theirs is an extraordinary feat… making the Vietnam War real for those of us whose lives were inextricably altered in its wake, as was mine.

Kudos to Lin McNulty for having the foresight and courage to bring this production forward, knowing it is strong ‘stuff’ for the general public. That said, this play is not to be missed. I feel certain you, as I did, will shout ‘Bravo!’ and give these newest actors the standing ovation they soundly deserve.