←Recommendations of Soldier Poet

An intricately woven piece, both heartfelt and intellectually focused; the precision is especially masterful, every moment is positioned and honed to serve the whole. The central, core relationship -- Ben and Connor -- and their resulting dialectic about the morality of Aleppo and the fungible definition of heroism is a compelling one. And they are pushed up against a powerful force, Qamer, a unique and distinctive (anti-) heroine, one we lean forward in our seats to hear and learn from. Strong storytelling; formidable work, eloquent and highly theatrical.

Soldier Poet is a beautiful and urgent look at U.S. involvement in Syria told through the lens of Ben, a young female Army Ranger with a bum ticker and a generous spirit. Her father thinks she fixes cars for the Army, but the reality is much more nuanced than that. Darcy Parker Bruce tackles violence with poetry, creating a more layered and detailed Syria than the one we see on the news. And don't even get me started on her image of chlorine gas. It will stick with you for months.

Soldier Poet is a play with a beating heart, starting from the outside into the wartorn underground of these characters. And even in the darkest of conversations, Darcy uncovers the magic of the moment, whether it's a suddenly starlit sky as bombs drop or the intimate breaths shared between strangers. This play feels necessary and I hope audiences cradle its words and take heed of its truths in future stagings.