Synopsis -
Letters to a Dead Girl: Transcendence
One-person show written by Shazia Islam a.k.a. Neon
*This story is a fictionalized account of an American soldier's dive into the hellfire of war and the tragic consequences of his indoctrination. The idea of the story evolved during the annual 3-Day Novel Writing Contest held over Labour Day weekend in 2013 after I had read about the horrors of the US invasion of Iraq in Jim Frederick's Black Hearts: One Platoon's Descent into Madness in Iraq's Triangle of Death. The now deceased Frederick (rest in peace Jim) had a vision to write a book that would effectively change people's naive perceptions of US intervention in Iraq. He wanted to tell the real story and he did in profoundly gripping detail. His book changed my reality for good. The 50-page Letters to a Dead Girl was written during a turbulent time in my own life so I was unable to expand on the story and make it more "complete" within the 3-day time limit. As fate would have it, an opportunity arrived to turn the manuscript into a solo theatre show, and so, the story renews its determination to be heard, for better or for worse...
Humanity in every soul cannot be
extinguished, yet it must be continuously rediscovered, for a light flickers within. --SI
During
the second U.S.-led military invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, hundreds
and thousands of Iraqi civilians were subjected to violent deaths as a result
of an armed, foreign military presence. The deaths of civilians in this period
saw a tragic increase from the first invasion of Iraq in 1991. The embattled
region remains in chaos and its people deeply affected by the horrors they had
witnessed.
Letters
to a Dead Girl: Transcendence is a one-person theatre production with music
about a U.S. soldier living out the rest of his life in solitary confinement
for crimes he committed while stationed in Iraq. The story of Private First
Class Leonard Purple is a profound and disturbing exploration of a troubled
American youth's indoctrination into military invasion, racism, occupation, and
violence. After receiving the toughest sentence of life without parole out of a
group of soldiers charged with the rape and murder of an Iraqi teenager
and the murders of her family, he sits in a solitary jail cell back in the U.S.
as turbulent memories of the past invade his mind. In an attempt to take
accountability for his actions, Purple begins writing a series of letters to
Fatima Qureshi, the girl he had killed. What follows is an unexpected
transcendence where identities converge and then merge, and where Purple
suddenly finds himself on the side of the Occupied. As this alternate reality
unfolds changing the landscape of his prison cell, Purple hears the voice of
Fatima through his own as she delivers a repertoire of haunting ballads to reclaim the life she knew in one final act of resistance and
repossession.
Letters
to a Dead Girl: Transcendence has no entertainment value. It is not a show or a
spectacle. It is a story to remember and to honour the young spectres of war
and violence whose lives were mercilessly stolen, and whose spirits yet remain,
roaming in anticipation of liberation.
Music:
"Time" composed and performed by Timothy A. Bartsch
"Foreshadowing" and "Abeer Qassim Hamza Al-Janabi" composed and performed by NO FEALTY
Performance Date:
Thursday, April 30, 12:15pm - 1:45pm @ Critical Ethnic Studies Conference (#CESA2015)
York University Campus
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