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- 2007-08 Season -

April 10 through May 4 at the Side Project Theatre
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm
and Sundays at 2pm; added Saturdays at 5pm on April 26 & May 3

A dark comedy playing on America's war department absurdities. 12-year-old Toma Singerson completes the last level of a combat video game and is instructed to head down to her local recruiting office. The overzealous Sergeant Bill quickly signs her up, along with destitute Martha Dixon and disobedient Harold Johnson. They all ship off to the desert, where, In the sand, Toma battles at every level leading her to a final showdown with Sally, the leader of a band of Foolish Soldiers, who await her arrival to make a stand as the most powerful soldier the world has ever seen.

written Joshua Aaron Weinstein
Directed by Glenn Proud

STARRING:
Madeline Long as TOMA
Cory Conrad as SERGEANT BILL
Allison McNeela as MARTHA
Chris Zdenek as HAROLD
with Becca Coren, Danielle O'Farrell
and Erin Barlow as FOOLISH SOLDIERS

SET DESIGNER Anders Jacobson
COSTUME DESIGNER Erin Fast
LIGHTING DESIGNER Eric Branson
SOUND DESIGNER Maya Kuper
DRAMATURG/PROPS DESIGNER Liz Larsen-Silva
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Vanessa Hughes
STAGE MANAGER Tresa Makosky
PRODUCTION MANAGER Amber Hilgenkamp

WATCH VIDEO OF LIVEWIRE'S WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION HERE
PROMOS FOR "SOLDIERS" HERE
CLIPS FROM "SOLDIERS: RECRUITMENT" HERE

PRESS ARCHIVE

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DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

Soldiers: The Desert Stand was developed from the 10-minute play Toy Soldier which was presented by Not-A-Penny Productions as part of their 1st Annual New Play Festival April 10, 2004 in Fayetteville, AR. Directed by Edward Fairchild. Starring Angela Hicks as MARTHA, Josh Cowdery as HAROLD, Ellen Nimo as TOMA and Matthew Parker as BILL. Produced by Clayton A. Rogers and Joshua Aaron Weinstein.

Soldiers: Recruitment, a short excerpt from Soldiers: TDS was presented December 13, 14 & 15 as part of Mordine & Company Dance Theatre's 800 lb Gorilla in the Room 'what we're not talking about'. An evening of multi-disciplinary performance at The Ruth Page Center for the Arts. Directed by Glenn Proud. Starring Cory Conrad as SERGEANT BILL; Madeline Long as TOMA; Ryan Musil as HAROLD; Liz-Larsen Silva, Vanessa Hughes or Deborah Proud as MARTHA; Sound Design by Maya Kuper; Lighting Design and Stage Management by Julian Pike; Production Manager Atalee Judy.

LiveWire Chicago Theatre also spent time reading the full-length play with the help of Sebastian Aguirre, Erin Barlow, Cory Conrad, Daniel Cox, Erin Fast, Amber Hilgenkamp, Anders Jacobson, Madeline Long, Deborah Proud and Glenn Proud.