OCC brings war voices home

Orange Coast College is once again taking its act on the road, this time bringing the Iraq war home for local high school audiences.

Titled “Voices in Conflict,” the program started off with performances at Estancia and Fountain Valley high schools and will continue with presentations this month.

Alex Golson, the OCC theater arts professor who initiated the 45-minute touring show, points out that it was created by students from Wilton High School in Connecticut in 2007.

“But the content was so controversial that the high school principal refused to let the students perform,” Golson said in a statement. “Eventually the news media publicized the incident and the students were invited to stage ‘Voices in Conflict’ in a nearby Connecticut playhouse — and eventually off Broadway.”

OCC’s production involves 19 theater students, including three technicians, who create dramatic tension based on actual letters, blogs and interviews of American soldiers serving in Iraq.

“I feel like it’s really an important piece,” stated Golson, who selects a play each year for elementary, intermediate or high school audiences and takes the show into the community.

The performance is free for schools that request a visit from the OCC troupe. Cast members take questions from the audience following each performance.

“It doesn’t take any stance for or against the war,” stated Golson, who expressed surprise that the play was once labeled controversial. “The play considers the seriousness of war from the soldiers’ viewpoint. Anyone who fought in the war returns home a changed person.”

He admits that the language in the script is mature.

“It’s how soldiers really talk,” he stated.

Golson describes the company as “one of the best casts I’ve ever had.”

Coaching the actors on correct Army form is one of the troupe’s members, Moses Davalos, a veteran with the Rangers, an elite Army fighting unit that served in Iraq.

One of the issues raised in the brief production is the treatment of veterans once they leave the battlefield.

“Their sacrifice is worth our very great attention,” Golson said.

“Voices in Conflict” will travel to local high schools for performances during May. More information may be obtained by contacting Golson at (714) 432-5640, ext. 6.

Meanwhile, OCC’s 47th annual Student Dance Concert is scheduled for 8 p.m. tonight and Saturday in the Robert B. Moore Theater.

Guest artist Mike Esperanza is the featured choreographer, joining OCC faculty members Linda Sohl-Ellison and Jose Costas. Esperanza has created a new work, “Unravel,” for the concert.