Ohio University’s Performing Arts and Concert Series will introduce students to the emotional aspects of war through a live-action performance.
BASETRACK Live will be shown at Templeton-Blackburn Memorial Auditorium on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free, but donations to the Veterans and Military Services Scholarship Fund are accepted.
The presentation is a documentary theater production that involves live-action performance and documentary footage. It is sponsored by a nonprofit organization called En Garde Arts and details the stories of U.S. Marines who were involved in the war in Afghanistan.
According to BASETRACK Live’s website, it features a reenactment of the experiences of AJ Czubai, a Marine who served in Afghanistan, and his wife, Melissa Czubai. Melissa gave birth to their child while AJ was overseas, and AJ ultimately returned home following a serious injury. The show explores aspects of the couple’s marriage during this time of separation, as well as the events that envelop AJ and the rest of his unit as they serve on the front lines.
BASETRACK Live also includes actual documentary footage of events that unfolded in Afghanistan obtained by various journalists, giving audiences a first-hand view of what daily life was like for the marines in the war, according to the show’s website.
Terry St. Peter, the coordinator of Veterans Services and academic advisor at the Veterans and Military Student Services, served in the U.S. military for 23 years and said he hopes the event will give students a perspective of the effects that war has on soldiers.
“We’re trying to ... give a little insight to students who may not understand a little bit about military culture,” St. Peter said. “In theory, they understand that when soldiers go to war, things happen, but maybe it’s kind of an opportunity to look inside and see, ‘How does war affect a soldier? How does it affect the family and those around you?'”
The production was created by Edward Bilous, who currently serves as the director of the Center for Innovation in the Arts at the Juilliard School. Bilous has an extensive background in the music industry as a composer, having worked for musicians including The Who and Sinead O’Connor, according to his website.
“We are always looking for opportunities to utilize the arts as a vehicle for conversations, education, and understanding,” Andrew Holzaepfel, senior associate director of Student Activities, said in an email. “BASETRACK Live presents us an opportunity to engage our students, campus and regional community in a dialogue about the veterans’ experience.”
More than 500 students at OU’s various campuses are veterans, and BASETRACK Live will represent their experiences, Holzaepfel said.
“It’s not aimed at being a political statement for or against war, it’s about the effects of war on folks,” St. Peter said. “This is just to let people understand what the soldiers go through and what the families go through.”
