David Rabe's Vietnam Drama
"Streamers"At The Huntington

Broadway's Scott Ellis Directs

Three decades after it debuted to critical and public acclaim at New York’s Lincoln Center, and following a small handful of productions by regional theatres, David Rabe’s Vietnam-era masterpiece “Streamers” gets a new revival by the Huntington Theatre Company from November 9 - December 9. Broadway's Scott Ellis directs.

In this powerful American drama, four young soldiers fresh from Army boot camp watch the Vietnam conflict escalate as they anxiously await deployment into the middle of a nightmarish war. As they struggle to make sense of their new regimented life in the army, tensions rise over race, sexuality, and class, culminating in an explosive act of violence.

The third in Rabe’s series of Vietnam War-themed plays that also includes 1970's “The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel” and 1972’s “Sticks and Bones,” “Streamers” is an unflinching look of the turmoil and confusion facing young men threatened by forces beyond their control.

Recognized as one of Rabe’s best and most-enduring plays, “Streamers” contains frank language and brutal violence as it realistically portrays the anger, alienation and fear soldiers face in wartime. It was named Best American Play by the New York Drama Critics Circle in 1976 and received a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play that same year. The New York Times called it “absolutely a knockout!”

Playwright David Rabe is the Tony Award-winning author of “In the Boom Boom Room” and “Hurlyburly,” as well as the screenplays for “The Firm,” “Casualties of War” and “I’m Dancing As Fast as I Can.” After graduating from college, Rabe began work on a graduate degree in theatre at Villanova University, but dropped out and was drafted into the Army. He spent the next year on a tour of duty in Vietnam, which profoundly affected his subsequent career as a writer.

Although assigned to a hospital group and not directly engaged in combat, Rabe was disturbed by the sacrifice of young Americans in what seemed to many to be a pointless war. After returning to the U.S. he reentered Villanova and finished his degree in 1968. He began writing about his Vietnam experiences — first as a journalist for the New Haven Register, then as a playwright.

Director Scott Ellis has received nine Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations and is the winner of a Drama Desk Award as Outstanding Director of a Musical for 1991’s “And the World Goes ’Round” and “A Little Night Music.” He directed the recent Broadway production “Curtains” with David Hyde Pierce and Debra Monk, the Broadway and national touring productions of “Twelve Angry Men,” and the acclaimed New York productions of “1776,” “Steel Pier” and the Tony Award-winning “The Little Dog Laughed,” among many others. He also has directed episodes of the television series "30 Rock," “The Closer” and "Frasier." Ellis is Associate Artistic Director of New York’s Roundabout Theatre Company.

RELATED EVENTS

November 13 – SNEAK PREVIEW, 6:30 p.m.
Get behind-the-scenes information about the show from participating designers, directors and/or staff. Free with ticket purchase.

November 15 – OUT & ABOUT CLUB, following the 7:30 p.m. performance
G.L.B.T. audience members are invited to a post-show party at the theatre, complete with a backstage look at the production. Free with ticket purchase.

November 18 – HUMANITIES FORUM, following the 2 p.m. performance
Get the historical and literary context of the play in a lively post-performance session. Featured speaker is Andrew Bacevich, a Vietnam veteran and professor of international relations at Boston University. He is the author of The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War. Hosted by Huntington Literary Manager Ilana Brownstein . Free with ticket purchase.

November 20 – TUESDAY TALKS, following the 7:30 p.m. performance
A new series of issues-oriented discussions featuring scholars, experts and authors who engage the audience in lively discussion about the complex issues portrayed in “Streamers” and how they relate to our current world situation. Speaker TBA. Free with ticket purchase; call 617-266-0800.

November 27 – TUESDAY TALKS, following the 7:30 p.m. performance
A new series of issues-oriented discussions featuring scholars, experts, and authors who engage the audience in lively discussion about the complex issues portrayed in “Streamers” and how they relate to our current world situation. Speaker TBA. Free with ticket purchase; call 617-266-0800.

November 29 — ACTORS FORUM, following the 7:30 p.m. performance
Members of the cast will appear to answer audience questions. Hosted by Huntington staff. Free with ticket purchase; call 617-266-0800.

December 4 – TUESDAY TALKS, following the 7:30 p.m. performance
A new series of issues-oriented discussions featuring scholars, experts, and authors who engage the audience in lively discussion about the complex issues portrayed in “Streamers” and how they relate to our current world situation. Speaker TBA. Free with ticket purchase; call 617-266-0800.

December 5 — ACTORS FORUM, following the 2 p.m. performance
Members of the cast will appear to answer audience questions. Hosted by Huntington staff. Free with ticket purchase; call 617-266-0800.

For information and tickets, stop by the Boston University Theatre box office at 264 Huntington Avenue, call 617 266-0800 or visit www.huntingtontheatre.org.

-- OnStage Boston