May 5th, 1970: The US invasion and occupation of Vietnam rages on. In five years, an estimated 365 thousand to 627 thousand Vietnamese will have been killed and nearly 60 000 US soldiers lost in the war. But now, the war isn’t over and protests against Nixon’s campaigns in neighbouring Cambodia inflames college and university campuses all across the US. On May 4th, the National Guard fires on students at Kent State University, killing 4 protestors. The following day, students at Patriot College in NYC grapple with the news.

A conversation, a question and an unfinished story of what it means to move on and what it means to protest.

CONTENT WARNINGS: death, violence, gun use (sounds & no visual depictions), mentions of war.

NATIONAL THEATRE SCHOOLS DRAMAFEST - ARTISTIC STATEMENT: (written by a high school cast)
There's a lot going on in the world. But we’re used to closing the news app when we see an upsetting headline. “Yeah, it sucks. But if you worry about everything, you can’t do anything.” And that’s it, right? After every tragedy, we gawk at violence and feel stressed from the realization that something's happening– and then move on. Forgetting quickly, we rinse the grief off our hands and move on with our days.

This play asks us to not let tragedy become routine. It shows us we can be brave and stand as protectors of what may feel distant—faith in people’s power to care.

For a play set in a society, culture and time very far from our own, it was a pivotal challenge for our actors to embody a fictional character while maintaining a strong connection between their lives and ours. Through rehearsal, we sat with the script, uncovering familiar traits to tell a story that saw student and character blended into one. Each monologue is a framework that we, over the past 3 months, discovered to resonate intensely with each of us in different but unifying ways.

We are excited to share our play’s mix of monologues and ensemble scenes. Some moments give focus to examining individual perspectives in-depth, while others are moments of unity with joint choreography and staging. The contrast between the moments tells a story where complex, emotional individuals—each feeling alone, in our own lives—make up the larger narrative while working together.