Written by the Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble

Directed by Tom Burmester

Cast:

DOC, 22, a Healer...Albert Meijer

BILL, 26, a soldier...Emeka Nnadi, Trevor Algatt

BETH, 29, a Blackhawk Pilot...Emily Rose, Nicole Reding

ELLEN, 22, a young mother...Morgan Early

ANGEL, a student...Carly Reeves

ANDY, 24, a soldier...Eric Ancker, Sean Jones

GRACER, 37, a therapist...Carrie Bradac, Kimberly Patterson

MARTIN, 33, a nurse...Spencer Nicholas, Evan Owen

IRAQI WOMAN, 22...Lauren Eckstrom, Eleanor Van Hest

Los Angeles Times:  RECOMMENDED

"A pertinent charge runs through "Wounded" in its American premiere. This impressive Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble project, drawn from interviews with Iraq war veterans and their families, depicts the personal toll of war with visceral intensity and graphic honesty...Director Tom Burmester expertly negotiates the clashes and revelations. Designer Francois-Pierre Couture's stark set and lighting keep the stakes front and center, and the stalwart ensemble is physically invested and wholly affecting...the urgent timeliness of 'Wounded' is unmistakable and recommends this harrowing, thought-provoking drama."

LA Weekly:  RECOMMENDED

"Wounded...finds its target, taking us deep into the troubled psyches of veterans who suffer as much from post-traumatic stress disorder as they do from the loss of limbs and faculties...the justification for oil wars at the top of the second act that, through its own twisted logic, becomes a scarily convincing argument. The numerous split scenes with overlapping dialogue in the piece are handled effectively by director Tom Burmester, and Francois-Pierre Couture’s scenic design is minimalist, emphasizing the characters’ physicality and their psychological struggles. The entire ensemble delivers strong performances that remind us it’s a 'long road to healing.'"

   

WOUNDED now marks the first play of what the Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble is calling “The War Cycle,” a collection of plays dealing with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Each play focuses on a different aspect of the war and how it affects the human condition.

Click here to visit the Wounded press page.

    Collaboratively conceived and written by the Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble and directed by Tom Burmester, Wounded is based on true accounts of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.  Set in the Fisher House rehabilitation home at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington DC, the main point of re-entry for wounded soldiers, sailors, and Marines, Wounded follows four young veterans and their families on their quest to readjust to life back home and get on with lives newly transformed by their injuries.  With their time in the war behind them, these men and women discover that their

real battle is about to begin.

    Countless hours of research, interviews, improvisation, transcriptions, revelations, and conversations went into developing the Wounded script.  After months of negotiating a maze of military bureaucracy, the Ensemble managed to arrange a trip to Fisher House to interview returning veterans and their family members.  There, they were privileged to spend time with three outstanding individuals whose experiences and stories provided the inspiration for the fictional characters in the play: Navy Corpsman Joe Dan "Doc" Worley, who ran into open fire to save an injured Marine; Sgt. Jason Pepper, who lost his eyes to a roadside bomb; and Major Tammy Duckworth, a Blackhawk pilot who wants to fly again after losing both her legs and who was narrowly defeated in her bid for Congress last November.

    This is the third full production of the play. It had its World Premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2005, followed by its American Premiere in Santa Monica, CA in 2006.