Sand Storm: Stories From The Front

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

Maybe because of the times; maybe because of the deluge or re-runs of Mash and moves like Sgt. Ryan telling gut wrenching stories with a gut wrenching effect, or from actual heart wrenching accounts by solders returning from Iraq who have paved their way into interviews or written their own blogs on the internet, Sand Storm is already out of date.

Todd Black, CJ Hosier and Phillip Page in Sand Storm: Stories from the Front.

In the one-act play of Sand Storm written by Cpl. Sean Huze depicting what he witnessed during his tour of duty while fighting in “Operation Iraqi Freedom” nothing was seen or heard that hadn’t been seen and heard over and over.

On a too dark stage with subdued lighting and spots designed by Jeremy Boik and two video screens to illustrate the individual stories, Todd Black assumes the role of Marine Sgt David Casavecchia. As Narrator, and loved by his men, he wraps himself into part parent, brother, and counselor to the others who fall in and out of the spotlight detailing their experiences. In the beginning he lays it out that those who listen to the politicians about what is really going on in Iraq is anything but the real story. Maybe at the beginning, there was an element of truth, but at this point I don’t know of anyone who believes anything the politicians are saying.

There is the implication there are stories to be told that can’t be expressed so honestly, that those fighting in Iraq must keep their mouths shut. Perhaps Huze was an early voice to underscore the reality it is the fighting men bearing the burden of authority driven decision-making politicians.

Since this play was initially written and produced, numerous stories have emerged from all directions on truth and reality. Consequently, the stories relayed in Sand Storm almost seem elementary and child’s play compared to others that continually emerge. The result was one act of boredom.

Directed by CJ Hosier, he did the best he could with what he had to work with. As each man tells his story, the four-letter F word is yelled at the audience over and over again. There is little doubt this word is used in the fighting field as the unexplainable, human destruction is witnessed again and again. No question, there are times when this particular word can be enormously effective when strategically placed. However, when it is thrown at the audience in repetitive motion, it looses its punch, and the word itself becomes boring. It begins to smack of a lack of intelligent writing by the playwright. Certainly there would be a means of conveying the depth of experience with far more colorful words. Perhaps the overuse of this now so dull word is what levels the stories to such an elementary degree.

LCPL Dodd (Brett Weisz) worked at Jiffy Lube before he was sent to Iraq. His sensibilities are turned upside down by the death of children. He can’t stop thinking about a lone 5-year old boy caught in the middle of the war zone, and “we pulled the trigger.”

Cpl Waters (Mark Minear who also takes on SGT Damond’s story) remembers terrorizing a dying Iraqi man while he savors his lunch, watching the legless man die in the scorching heat of the desert. Minear delivers his story in a near monotone, wondering if “it’s OK to do the wrong things for the right reasons.” Perhaps the monotone is deliberate to separate his character’s memory of the guilty pain that haunts him. It doesn’t read that well beyond the boards.

A way too young PFC Weems (Michael “Stone” Higginbotham) finds himself in an uncomfortable awkward situation when he finds a foot on a slaughter field, feeling compelled to find the man it belonged too. He doesn’t know why, he doesn’t know how to explain the compulsion to his superiors. He just knows he has to do it.

Cpl Rodriguez (Ronnie Varnado) struggles over watching his best friend die.

SSGT Adams (Brian McKay) admits he wasn’t fighting for the red, white, and blue. He was fighting for the road back home.

The rest of the cast consists of: Keith Wright, who not only plays DOC Matthews but Sgt Williams as well, and Phillip Page who portrays Lt Smith.

Because of the subdued lighting and double casting, there are times when it is difficult to keep everyone straight. Costumed in what appears to be regulation issued uniforms, in the all-too dark lighting, the actors look pretty much the same. Perhaps the actors are grasping for experiences way beyond their means, there is difficulty owning the character allowing the individuals to stand out in distinction.

The choices of photographs accompanying the individual stories are far from the most poignant. There is where the play could have brought the stories to a gripping reality of the horrific memories. Some are so bland; they almost look like travelogues with shots of buildings, shots of the desert, and shots taken so far away detail is lost. Even the shot of the 5-year old boy could have been a heart-wrenching visual, but the photo itself just looks like a small kid sitting in the desert sand. The impact lost to the imagination.

The stories are real, coming from real men who lived through the experiences, and who must live through it for the rest of their lives, but in this production the impact it wants to affect is played down and lost.

For young men thinking about enlisting, who think patriotically, who feel the urge to serve their country, who think heroically, they definitely should see this production. For those who have deliberately, ignored or have not taken the opportunity to hear real life tragic moments of un-glory from those forced to deal with things no human being should be asked to live through, by all means this is a production to schedule. But for those who are astute, who have heard stories over and over, Sand Storm will seem like child’s play and boredom could easily set in.

The over-all affect of this production looks like a clouded negative rather than the full-blown colored detailed portrait it was originally intended to be. Maybe someone thought the full-blown intended colored detailed portrait was too graphic to paint on the TOB stage. The negative waters down the experiences, waters down the impact void of heart-wrenching mind-tickling poignant thoughts.