War Stories
World Premiere
by Sydney Miller
Dir. Malik Jallow
JMU Studio Theater
Spring 2024
CREATIVE TEAM:
Malik Jallow….Director
Kylie Watkins….Stage Manager
Sydney Miller….Playwright/Dramaturg
Charlotte Bronaugh….Props Designer
Jo Shelton….Makeup/Hair Designer
Kaylie Richmond….Lighting Designer
Julia Finkler….Sound Designer
Ella Bruinooge….Set Designer
Claudia Obenschain….Costume Designer
Jordan Hundley….Dramaturgy
Eliza Snipes….Publicity
Jamie Guest….Assistant Props Designer
Declan Wood….Assistant Stage Manager
Erin Wilson….Assistant Stage Manager
Kiya Thomas….Assistant Director
CAST:
Moira: Quincee Stamps
Shea: Marisa Blass
Mortimer: Will Chapman
Martin: Rylan Farey
Percy: Caroline Bunner
Marie: Jackson Zahn
Swings/Understudies:
Mina Abu Alhomos (Shea U/S)
Luke Freisner (Martin U/S, Swing)
Caitlin Quigley (Moira U/S, Swing)
War Stories is a play written by one of my friends and classmates, Sydney Miller, that explores themes of life, death, war, and human connection. Six people find themselves trapped in an abandoned, destroyed bookstore, and over the course of the play, they reveal more about themselves and their stories. It is discovered that each person has died in some way related to war. Each character is from a different time period and is involved in a different war, but they all work together to move on past the purgatory-like bookstore they have found themselves in.
I was originally not supposed to be involved in this production beyond the involvement my role as Studio Theater Costume Liaison, but when the director came to me having just lost his costume designer, I offered to step in in order to take something off his plate. I inherited a few design concept from the director (but I absolutely loved his ideas so it was really a personal choice too). Because of the short amount of time I had to pull the show together, as I had come on to the process about a week and a half before tech, I asked for permission to access costume stock and was able to pull together a design I am really proud of.
Malik had already decided on a very neutral color palette to emulate the color of book pages. I took that and decided to focus mainly on silhouette, using some historical research to put together costumes that nodded to the time periods they were set in. Because of the time constraint, historical accuracy was not of utmost importance to me; instead I simply wanted the audience to see this ensemble of characters and be able to see that these people are not of the same time, but are connected to each other in some way.
Character Designs
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Mortimer
British WW1 Doctor
Kills himself 15 years after the war due to not being able to cope. A smartly dressed man, but still a soldier.
(Yes those are Sour Patch Kids socks, the actor forgot his black socks on media day and I didn't catch it in time.)
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Marie
French WW2 Bookstore Owner
Owns a bookstore in a German-occupied city in France and is in the bookstore when the city gets bombed. A lover of stories.
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Martin
American Korean War Soldier
Gets drafted into the Korean War, but drowns in a mountain spring while on leave. A bit of a pacifist yet a big instigator.
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Moira
Irish Mother
Mother of Shea, both killed by an IRA car bomb. A very classy woman who puts on a brave face for her child.
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Shea
Irish Child
Child of Moira, both killed by an IRA car bomb. A very curious and outgoing child who loves to listen to stories.
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Percy
Teenage Son of an American Soldier in Afghanistan
Son of an American soldier fighting in Afghanistan who comes back and is abusive, eventually killed by his father throwing him down a set of stairs. A “scholar at heart” who loves books and ha a quick temper.
