And we will all go down together

HAND2MOUTH THEATRE
Repeat After Me

posted by laura becker

Last night Billy Joel made me weep. His song interrupted the light-hearted musical meditations on America and hit me like a sucker punch. The chopper sounds and the lyrics of numbered body bags yanked me away from the streamer-filled parade feel of it all, and before I knew it, tears were streaming down my face and all I could think was “How is this happening again? How stupid could we be? How could they do this to us?”

Up until that moment, I don’t think I had really comprehended how much I hate this war. Something about hearing the song out of nowhere got to me, and all of a sudden I remembered being a kid and taking for granted that assumption of peace for the rest of my life. Naïve and obviously wrong, I thought of songs like that as proof that everyone agreed starting a war was a bad idea. Songs like that were promises from our parents that we were the children that would grow up never having to fear the draft, never having to sacrifice our innocence, never knowing of (hidden) body bags. Oh well. Live and Learn.

But those angry tearful moments didn’t make me enjoy the show any less. I loved it. I thought the actors, especially the women, were amazing. I thought the energy was unbelievable. I thought it was the most creative, impactful, and impressive piece of TBA so far. And it made very proud that it’s a product of our state.

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