Paper Cut – Life After War

Paper Cut is a new play at the Dairy arts center aimed at examining the return to civilian life from military service and the emotional and physical toll that war takes on returning veterans.

Written by Andrew Rosendorf and based on the writings of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Wood, Paper Cut follows a staff sergeant in his early twenties coming back home after two tours of Afghanistan. It shows what that experience does to not only the person coming home but also the people close to him.  Pesha Rudnik, The play’s director, says she and the crew put in a considerable amount of time and work into making the piece as accurate as possible. During rehearsals, real veterans were brought in to answer any questions actors may have had, all in the name of portraying the way military act and feel as accurately as possible on the stage.

“I was overwhelmed by how young the veterans were that I was meeting and so surprised how little emotional connection I had to the war in Afghanistan, which is still going on, 17 years later.”

Pulitzer prize winning journalist David Wood, on whose writing the play is based, says more people need to know about what war does to the young men and women going into the military.

“People need to know the stories of the veterans who come home so we have a better sense of, when there is a national decision to be made,  whether we send young men and women into harm’s way that we know what’s at stake, that we know what we’re asking of them. This play touches on a large part of that.”

Paper Cut is running at the Dairy Arts Center Thursday November 8th through Sunday November 11, Veterans Day. All performances Thursday through Saturday are at 7.30pm, with a matinee on Sunday at 4pm. Thursday’s performance is followed by a talk-back session.

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