Tonight’s performance of David T. Little’s one-act opera-song-cycle Soldier Songs at the Prototype Festival (presented at Schimmel Center at Pace University) was stunning! Little and director Yuval Sharon have created a high impact examination of the mind of a combat soldier, aptly portrayed by Christopher Burchett with the assistance of Zac Ballard, a child actor, as “The Boy.”
This is overwhelmingly powerful stuff – so powerful, in its combination of music, light, projections, interview snippets, settings, that I might warn off actual combat veterans for fear that the intensity will trigger PTSD symptoms. On the other hand, it really gets you to thinking hard about what soldiers go through on the front. This is art with a serious purpose.
This is a short festival, but I understand that this show will be playing again for a few days starting Wednesday night. Urgently recommended!