A Poignant Tribute To 'Heroes'
LA Times
David C. Nichols
LA Times Recommended
December 7, 2007

The unsung valor of the military spouse informs "Silent Heroes" at Gardner Stages, the second production by VetStage Foundation. If the schematics of Linda Escalera Baggs' extended one-act about six Marine aviator wives in 1975 verge on the old-fashioned, its subject could scarcely be more timely.

Set in the "ready room" of a Marine Corps Air Station, "Silent Heroes" quickly establishes its premise as the wives anxiously gather to learn which one of their pilot husbands isn't returning. During their vigil, they bicker and bond through confessions that encompass abuse, adultery, racism and pacifism. By the open-ended fade-out, it's clear that, as valiant as U.S. servicemen unquestionably are, their women, who hold together family, home and each other, are just as courageous.

Vietnam-era details apart, "Silent Heroes" most resembles the Hollywood films of World War II. Its structure, with revelations interrupted by the overhead roar of another safely landing plane, is more serviceable than profound. Yet Baggs has a knack for turning jargon and issues into dialogue and an eye for behavioral specifics, and director Carmen Melito gradually draws the vital message into firm focus.

Her proficient players pack a lingering punch, at ease with military terms and finding laughs through the tears. Eileen Grubba's cynic-with-a-secret and Jane Hajduk's group leader are contrasts in committed technique, while Nadege August gives her socially isolated nurse galvanic power. Heather Simon underpins the by-the-book pragmatist with palpable tension, and any gaucherie in Leslie Ann Thompson's pregnant enabler and Cynthia Rose Hall's defiant feminist is wholly apt.

Obviously, veterans and their families should not miss "Silent Heroes." Open-minded civilians could learn something valuable from the essential integrity of this deeply felt tribute.



Silent Heroes
BackStage West
Critic's Pick
By Madeleine Shaner
December 05, 2007


The silent heroes of the title finally find their voices in Linda Escalera Baggs' tough-minded take on the heartbreaks and hardships suffered by the wives of modern warriors, specifically the U.S. Marines. Having grown up a Marine brat, the playwright obviously knows whereof she speaks, although the play is a definite eye-opener for the rest of us.

It's 1975, and six wives of Marine aviators have been summoned to a Marine air base because one of their husbands' planes has crashed, but no one knows which one. The women, five of them veteran service wives, are called on to play a waiting game. Tension is high and tempers are frayed, more so because the youngest, Miranda (swe etly naive Cynthia Rose Hall), new to their group, was involved in anti-war activities at Kent State in 1970, putting her patriotism in question. The Marine wives are loyal to the core, and to the Corps, even though, as the play progresses, unacceptable truths surface in each of the women's marriages.

Using each woman as poster child for a specific war-wives' syndrome, the argument turns on domestic violence and spousal abuse (Kitty, a searingly fine Heather Simon), serial infidelity (Eleanor, a defensively prickly Eileen Grubba), silent and not so silent racism in the Corps (Felicia, feisty fireball Nadege August), and the unequal treatment of women and the burden of keeping the family together (Patsy, the stately Leslie Ann Thompson). June (Jane Hajduk in cool control), as a woman who has lost one husband to a plane crash yet has married another pilot, tries to hold the group together as they are collectively falling apart. Despite what seems like ann oyingly petty bickering at the story's start, the play and the characters become very real and disturbing as the actors find their way into their roles, under the sure hand of director Carmen Milito.

The issues that fire the women sometimes seem a bit dated, until one remembers the dateline is 1975, and we're in the middle of yet another war. Together, this promising group makes you think as well as feel, which is where every good play should take you.




Harps and Harmonicas: Laugh-out-loud theatre
By Kitty Turner
Special to the Times-News
August 23. 2007

Shrieks of laughter greeted Harps and Harmonicas at the Flat Rock Playhouse on opening night, as Barbara Bradshaw as Cynthia and Paige Posey as Maddy traveled from New England to Chicago in a generation-gap road trip. A big map charted the duo's sometimes slow progress (100 miles a day?) aided by road music from the baby boomer generation (Teach Your Children, Why Doesn't Anyone Stay in One Place Anymore, It's My Life, Denim Blue, etc.)

The trip gets started when Cynthia's husband dies and an antique harp, that he stored at his office, must be delivered to Cynthia's daughter Kate (or Mary Katherine as Cynthia insists on calling her) in Chicago. A plan is hatched between Kate (Amy Elizabeth Jones) and her best friend, Maddie, to rent a van and drive the harp to Chicago with Cynthia in tow in order to take her mind off her recent loss. However, Kate drops out for family reasons and leaves her best friend to cope with her mother.

At the first stop Maddie calls Kate and says "I've known you forever -- how come I didn't know she was like this?" Kate replies that Cynthia still thought of Maddie as company and was on her best behavior, but now she's been reduced to family status -- and look out!

The audience doesn't see the trip itself, only the scenes in the motel rooms at the end of each horrendous day. The first day -- which doesn't get them out of Connecticut -- Cynthia reveals her cleaning fanaticism, with a spray bottle of Lysol permanently attached to her hand. She also cites the "60 Minutes" story on the things found on motel/hotel bedspreads, chairs and carpeting, which becomes a running joke. Cynthia has her own bedspread and pillow, which she gets out every night to replace the germ-carrying ones provided by the motel. Maddie complains by phone to Kate, who is tickled that her friend can now empathize with her complaints. They joke about lunch at Cracker Barrel -- "45 minutes for lunch, three hours in the gift shop."

But Cynthia also opens up to Maddie and tells her the story of how she met her husband, on a ferry crossing Narragansatt Bay. Philip (Michael Edwards) steps from the wings to reenact the romance as Cynthia explains that she promised him that day, when they first met, to never marry anyone else. Maddie is touched, and admits that her boyfriend Stu (Brian Robinson), is her "harp," the one person that is perfect for her, but won't explain why she won't marry him.

The second day finds the odd couple still in Connecticut -- and much less friendly with each other. When Maddie remarks that she's had to play a lot of harmonicas to find her harp, Stu, Cynthia immediately wants to know how many. Maddie, refuses to answer and they begin to bicker until Maddie locks herself in the bathroom. When Kate calls on Maddie's cellphone Cynthia gingerly answers (she's convinced cellphones result in brain tumors) and passes the phone to Maddie in the bathroom -- and then holds a glass against the door to try to listen to the conversation.

As the trip continues and the relationship grows more acrimonious, the backgrounds of the characters emerge. Cynthia, who has never so much as kissed a man who wasn't her husband, must now face life alone, and Maddie, who has grown up in the school of hard knocks, has trouble trusting herself or anyone else. Each has a relationship with Kate, and through Kate with each other, but is that enough?

By the time they reach Pennsylvania they are barely speaking, and things get a little raunchy when Cynthia accuses Maddie of using her breasts to get them a room. That leads to a discussion of euphemisms (knockers, boobs, rack, etc.) and underwear, that might raise the eyebrows of a few viewers.

The second act has some rather sentimental scenes, as Maddie's problem is resolved and Kate becomes jealous of her friend's relationship with her mother, but overall this is a laugh-out-loud theater experience in which all the participants are outstanding, although Barbara Bradshaw deserves special mention as the fussy but romantic Cynthia who finds her inner soul in the final scene.



Women Trade Secrets in Harps and Harmonicas at Flat Rock Playhouse  
asheville.com
August 2007


Flat Rock Playhouse presents Harps and Harmonicas, a new comedy about mothers, daughters and strange bedfellows onstage August 22 through September 2. What happens when your husband of 41 years - the only man you've ever dated or kissed - dies? If you're Cynthia, you embark on a road trip with your daughter's best friend and suddenly find yourself a bit over your head in a world you never really knew existed. The road proves easier to negotiate than the generation gap between the women. Packed with laughter, quirky discoveries, revealing clashes of temper and reluctant moments of acceptance, Harps and Harmonicas tells a humorous story familiar to anyone who has survived the idiosyncrasies of the generations before and after them.

When Kate inherits a large concert harp, her best friend Maddie offers to accompany Kate’s mother, Cynthia, on a driving trip to Connecticut in order to deliver the harp to back to Chicago. Cynthia is recently widowed. She is very sheltered, a little neurotic, and still living by the code of 1950’s. Maddie speaks her mind and is very much a woman of today. Kate is Cynthia’s daughter. She is not quite on the cutting edge as her best friend Maddie, however she is a veteran of clashes with her mother.

Cynthia and Maddie are an odd couple and worlds collide as they set out on this enlightening trip. As the duo hit the road, they go from hotel room to hotel room and they keep a running dialogue with Kate via telephone. Over the course of several nights, the women drift into conversations about the secrets of life, past loves, indiscretions, sexy lingerie and hidden tattoos as the three women define and redefine themselves and their relationships with each other.

Harps and Harmonicas was penned by Linda Escalera Baggs of Richmond, Va and won the 2005 Mountain Playhouse International Comedy Playwriting Contest, where the script was also produced as a world premiere in 2006. Baggs has written one other full-length play, Silent Heroes (also an award winner), and numerous short plays to complement the curriculum of kindergarten through fourth grade. She is a member of The Dramatists Guild of America, Inc., Chicago Dramatists and the International Society of Women Playwrights.

Perhaps one of the constant challenges of any playwright is to create living, breathing characters that don't appear to be stereotypical or trite - but actually behave in their own unique ways. Early reviews revealed that what distinguished Harps and Harmonicas is that the language of the play seemed was natural, not contrived or theatrical, Baggs’ story reveals a maturity in writing, with the characters offering their own unique perspectives on life. The dialogue sparkles with wit and charm, yet maintains an essential believability that draws you into the story, because you're watching real people interacting.

Harps and Harmonicas is a very funny, enlightening and revealing story of women of different ages learning from each other. Mothers, daughters and best friend will recognize themselves in the story. A stellar cast of actors has been assembled for Harps and Harmonicas: Barbara Bradshaw plays Cynthia; Amy Elizabeth Jones plays her daughter Kate; and Paige Posey plays best friend Maddie. Veteran performers Michael Edwards and Brian Robinson play a variety of male characters who impact the women’s world. The production is directed by Angie Flynn-McIver, the Producing Director of NC Stage Company in Asheville.



Let's hear it for Theatre Jacksonville's 'Silent Heroes'

March 2006
By ANGELA DRYDEN
The Times-Union

In times of war and uncertainty, many movies, books and plays result, often from the perspective of those doing the fighting. But playwright Linda Escalera Baggs has brought a much-needed story to the stage for those who are left behind, a story many will be able to relate to, especially wives who are left waiting and wondering.


Silent Heroes, a one-act play set at a South Carolina Marine Corps air station in 1975, delves into the tense waiting period six pilots' wives are forced into following news that one of the Marines' planes has crashed.

"How much longer do we have to wait?" is the question that rings throughout the play. It's a question that, in a military town such as Jacksonville, is likely to speak to many in the community.

The central focus of the play is strongly executed through director Amy Johnson O'Connor, who reveals the wives' obstacles, fears, taxing optimism and secrets. The set, a room designated as a waiting room for pilots, which doubles as a waiting room for the wives, is an authentic replica and does a nice job of putting the audience into the drama.

What was distracting during the play (aside from the audience members who were eating during the performance and the cell phone that went off opening night) was the dialogue.

For a play set in a time of the civil rights and women's liberation movements, the dialogue lacks originality at times and leaves the actors spouting banalities such as "Love it or leave it," "It could've been worse" and "We're all we have."

The performances were strongest when the actors were able to step out of playing the characters and actually become them, portraying the obstacles and conflicts of wanting the other wives' husbands to return, while each silently hopes her husband will be one of the five to greet her on the tarmac.

We get glimpses of inner conflict and contradiction in each character as the play goes on, giving them depth. The character of Miranda, played by Erin Searcy, is the youngest of the wives. She seems to be a stalwart for women's rights, but after deeper insight into her character, she relates the period of waiting for her husband to being in the Miss America pageant, waiting to find out who will be crowned. No beauty queen wants to be the runner-up, no matter how much they like the other contestants. But in this case, no one wants to be the last one standing.

Silent Heroes is an experience worth waiting through, even for those not exposed to military life. Anyone who has had to wait on something beyond his or her control will be able to connect with the story.


Mountain Playhouse, 2005 Comedy Playwriting Contest

The long awaited reading of the winner of the 2004 Mountain Playhouse International Comedy Playwriting Contest took place Sunday evening, September 11, 2005 at the Mountain Playhouse . . . and, it was well worth the wait. Linda Escalera Bagg's winning play was so well received by the audience and the Gristmill Productions Board of Directors that the Board voted to present the world premiere of the play during the 2006 season. The Mountain Playhouse has the exclusive rights to produce the play in 2006. In 2007, the 11 other CORST (Council of Resident Stock Theatres) theaters will have the first opportunity to produce the play; then, in 2008, the play will be available for other theaters to produce.

Jurors for the contest lauded the dialogue and strong character development setting Harps and Harmonicas apart from the competition. Mountain Playhouse actor (and English professor at Allegany College of Maryland), Matt Marafino, spent about a month screening the 93 entries in the 2004-2005 contest, reading an average of three scripts per day. Harps and Harmonicas was one of the first plays he read and it immediately stood out as a potential winner.

“What distinguished Harps and Harmonicas was that the language of the play seemed natural, not contrived or theatrical,” said Marafino who observed, “Baggs’ story revealed a maturity in writing, with the characters offering their own unique perspectives on life.” Jurist Henry Scott “Biff’ Baron, a director and playwright himself, observed, “The constant challenge of any playwright is to create living, breathing characters that don't appear to be stereotypical or trite - but actually behave in their own unique ways. The characters in this play are all that and more. The dialogue sparkles with wit and charm, yet maintains an essential believability that draws you in, because you're watching ‘real people’ interact.” Rodney Eatman, a member of the final panel of jurists who selected the winner, looks forward to the play reading and expects it will be well received. Eatman is Director of Theatre and Professor of Theatre Arts at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.  “There can’t be enough good plays. It’s exciting to be able to add to the body of dramatic literature. The Mountain Playhouse has a distinguished history of entertaining audiences and we are in a unique place to bring forth a new product that reflects the things that we are so good at doing at the Mountain Playhouse,” says Eatman.

NYTheatre.com
July 7, 2004
Wilde, New & Sizzling
by Martin Denton

excerpt - The rest of New is broadly comic, from Donna Spector's warm-hearted look at a fortune teller and her deceased mother in Crystal Ball, to Susan Goodell's humorous yarn about a family whose members are none of them what they seem (Well Really), to the charmingly off-kilter August Jinx, by Linda Escalera Baggs, about a bride whose aunt is convinced that her wedding is doomed. The five New plays are well-staged by Andy Davis and Kathy Gail MacGowan.


Style Weekly
May 19, 2004

Former Richmonder Linda Escalera Baggs had a brilliant theatrical idea when she wrote “Silent Heroes,” the Barksdale Theatre’s latest production. It’s 1975 at a Marine base, and a pilot has been killed in a noncombat accident. The wives of the squadron’s six pilots have gathered to find out who has lost a husband. Baggs puts the women in a small room, reveals the identities of the surviving pilots one by one, and so the tension builds to a boiling point. It’s a testament to the strength of this basic idea that the show remains compelling, even though a lot of clumsy dramatics transpire as the story unfolds. Baggs tends to use her characters as hooks to hang issues on. Spousal abuse, infidelity and racism are all run up the flagpole. This kind of one-note characterization reduces much of the dialogue to polemics and proclamations. And the play seems stuck in a loop in the early scenes, as each character reveals a dark secret and then storms out of the room. Plot weaknesses aside, Baggs has an insightful sense of interpersonal dynamics and a quick wit. She also knows how to play an audience’s emotions: This is a production that will choke you up at least a few times and will have you on the edge of your seat at the ending. Director Nancy Cates stages the action simply but with nicely rendered details, from the era-appropriate hairdos to a set by Joel Sherry that manages to be both antiseptic and impressionistic. Cates gets excellent performances from her actresses, who infuse even the one-note characters with depth and resonance. Jill Bari Steinberg is the most nuanced as the world-weary Eleanor, complete with acid-tongued quips and withering disdain. But her tough exterior hides an unexpected and abiding love for her unfaithful fly-boy. Steinberg is closely matched by stage veteran Jan Guarino as June, the commanding officer’s wife. June, who lost her first husband in combat, comforts and consoles the other wives, never revealing her pain and anger until the harrowing conclusion. In fact, there’s probably a superb — and more subtle — play to be found within the bounds of June’s and Eleanor’s complex relationship. Until Baggs writes that one, this very good play will do. — D. L. Hintz

Potomac Stages
January 31, 2004

Silent Heroes: (l-r) Dionne Audain,

Kimberley Cooper,  Saskia de Vries,
Misty Demory, Lisa Lias, and Sheila Hennessey.