Rivendell Theatre Ensemble and The National Veterans Art Museum present an excerpt from

The Lonely Soldier Monologues: Women at War In Iraq

By Helen Benedict
Directed by Tara Mallen

November 12, 2011

More women soldiers are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan than in any other American war in history. Though still officially banned from holding direct combat roles, in a war without a front line, women soldiers often participate in combat. Yet, since only one in ten soldiers is female, they are often painfully alone. This isolation, along with a military culture hostile to women, denies them the camaraderie soldiers depend on for survival and subjects them to sexual persecution by their comrades. As one soldier said, "I ended up waging my own war against an enemy dressed in the same uniform as mine."

This play is a dramatic treatment of Helen Benedict's book, "The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq" (Beacon Press, April 2009). The play’s monologues are all the real words of the soldiers interviewed by Benedict.

Location:
National Veterans Art Museum (1801 S. Indiana Ave., Chicago, IL)

One-Time Only Performance:
Saturday November 12, 2011 at 3PM

Special Notes:
Following the performance, the playwright will be reading from her new novel about women at war, "Sand Queen", and will be available afterward for discussion and book signings.

CAST

Kelsey Peterson as Army Specialist Maria Sanchez

Served in Iraq 2005-2006

Krenee Tolson as Army Sergeant Terris Dewalt-Johnson

Served in Iraq 2005-2006

Felicia Oates as Army Specialist Sylvia Gonzalez

Served in Iraq 2003-2004

Kathy Logelin as Joan D’Arc

Exerpts from "St. Joan" by George Barnard Shaw

Narrator:  Chloe Johnston

Reading "Sand Queen":  Rebecca Spence

Also featuring work by Emily Seifken, Bernadette Raspante, and Susan Bowmen