In an age where the vast majority of Americans never put on a uniform, actors say movies and plays that share a first-person perspective of war with the audience are one way the nation can understand the sacrifices made by those who served.
Washington-based author Andrew Carroll found a unique way to share these personal stories: through letters written during war that he collected during a year-long trip to 40 countries around the world. “If All the Sky Were Paper” puts those letters on the stage, sharing specific, individual moments of war with an audience rather than looking at the enormity of a conflict through massive death tolls or other broad statistics, which can numb viewers rather than bring them in, the narrator of the play says.
Michael Connor Humphreys got involved as an actor with “If All the Sky Were Paper,” which opened Thursday night at the Kennedy Center, because of his service in the Army during a year and a half deployment to Iraq.
“There were a few guys who more or less got killed in my place because I was standing where I was,” he told The Washington Times. “I’ve been feeling like I need to do something with my life to warrant me being here in their place, and this is a good way to put a face on the war and show a more personal side of it.”
Mr. Humphreys enlisted in the Army in 2004 partly because of a history of military service in his family and partly because of his experience on the set of “Forrest Gump,” where the played the young title character.
To keep him entertained on weekends as a young kid, the film crew would bring him to the Marine Corps training base at Parris Island, S.C., close to where the movie filmed.
“They would take me there, they gave me a tour, introduced me to Marine captains, and let me play around in fighter jets,” said Mr. Humphreys, who got out in 2008 as a specialist.
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As a soldier, Mr. Humphreys said he can relate to a lot of the letters he reads during the play about being in combat, but his perspective on the more emotional aspects of war often differs since each conflict and generation has its unique struggles. One of the best parts of the show, however, is the letters offer a first-person account often missing from re-tellings of war, he said.
“Everything is always told years later after the fact. When you have these letters written there on the spot at the very moment, it shows you what was happening there,” he said. “It’s the most accurate account you’re going to get.”
Mr. Carroll said he wanted to focus on the experience of war in the play, not a political agenda. Still, Jason Hall, screen writer of “American Sniper” and an actor in the Kennedy Center production of “If All the Sky Were Paper,” said sharing personal stories of service members with those who have never served could make the country less likely to jump into the next war because an audience is more likely to connect with one person’s experience.
“That’s the effect that this play has on you when you hear these stories,” Mr. Hall said. “It resonates as true because these are actual letters, you sit there and hold them in your hand. You hear story of a guy talking about his son being born, two days later he was dead.”
In writing “American Sniper,” Mr. Hall said he hoped by staying true to Chris Kyle’s story, he could inspire others who were struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder or other consequences of combat to speak up and get the help they needed.
“I wasn’t really trying to get a message across to the viewers, I was trying to tell a man’s story of sacrifice,” he said. “I did feel that if I could tell Chris’ story faithfully, it would resonate with every other soldier.”
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The Defense Department works with some movies, TV shows and sometimes plays to ensure the American military is portrayed accurately in productions that want to use equipment or service members, said Philip Strub, director of entertainment media at the Defense Department.
Once a crew comes to the Defense Department and provides the script for review, the military decides whether or not to work together based on two criteria: that the production will increase American’s understanding of the military and that it will help with recruitment and retention, Mr. Strub said. The military is reimbursed for any costs it incurs specifically for filming, like flight hours requested by the film crew, he said.
The military has coordinated on blockbuster hits like “Lone Survivor,” about a failed Navy SEAL mission, and “Captain Phillips,”a story about a cargo ship overtaken by pirates. It recently provided some support to “Fun House,” a film starring Tina Fey that recounts a journalist’s coverage of wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan based on the book “The Taliban Shuffle.”
“If All the Sky Were Paper” did not consult with the Defense Department on this production.
The Kennedy Center is hosting another performance of “If All the Sky Were Paper” Friday night leading up to Memorial Day weekend and has a show planned in Santa Barbara, Calif., in November for Veteran’s Day.
• Jacqueline Klimas can be reached at jklimas@washingtontimes.com.
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