Reston - Coming to Terms: American Plays & the Vietnam War

Copyright 1985 and 2016 by Theatre Communications Group, Inc. Introduction copyright 1985 by James Reston, Jr. Coming to Terms: American Plays and the Vietnam War is published by Theatre Communications Group, Inc., 520 Eighth Avenue, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10018-4156. All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio or television reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that this material, being fully protected under the Copyright Laws of the United States of America and all other countries of the Berne and Universal Copyright Conventions, is subject to a royalty.

All rights, including but not limited to, professional, amateur, recording, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio and television broadcasting, and the rights of translation into foreign languages are expressly reserved. Particular emphasis is placed on the question of readings and all uses of this book by educational institutions, permission for which must be secured from the authors representative as listed below: Streamers, copyright 1976, 1977 by David William Rabe. All inquiries regarding stock and amateur rights should be addressed to Samuel French, Inc., 235 Park Avenue South, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10003 and other inquiries to the authors agent, Joyce Ketay, The Gersh Agency, 41 Madison Avenue, 33rd Floor, New York, NY 10010. Reprinted by permission of Grove/Atlantic, Inc. Botticelli, copyright 1968 by Terrence McNally. How I Got That Story, copyright 1979, 1981 by Amlin Gray. How I Got That Story, copyright 1979, 1981 by Amlin Gray.

All inquiries regarding stock and amateur rights should be addressed to Dramatists Play Service, Inc., 440 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016 and other inquiries to the author c/o the publisher. Medal of Honor Rag, copyright 1977, 1983 by Tom Cole. All inquiries regarding stock and amateur rights should be addressed to Samuel French, Inc., 235 Park Avenue South, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10003. Moonchildren, copyright 1980 by Michael Weller. All inquiries regarding stock and amateur rights should be addressed to Samuel French, Inc., 235 Park Avenue South, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10003 and all other inquiries to the authors agent, Joyce Ketay, The Gersh Agency, 41 Madison Avenue, 33rd Floor, New York, NY 10010. Still Life, copyright 1979 by Emily Mann.

All inquiries regarding stock and amateur rights should be addressed to Dramatists Play Service, Inc., 440 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016 and other inquiries to the authors agent, Kate Navin, The Gersh Agency, 41 Madison Avenue, 33rd Floor, New York, NY 10010. Strange Snow, copyright 1983 by Stephen Metcalfe. All inquiries regarding stock and amateur rights should be addressed to Samuel French, Inc., 235 Park Avenue South, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10003 and other inquiries to the authors agent, Rachel Viola, United Talent Agency, 888 Seventh Avenue, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10106. Cover photograph of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial by Charles Tasnadi, AP/Wide World Photos Design by Soho Studio A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN 978-1-55936-851-3 (ebook) First Edition, 1985 New Edition, September 2016 A Note on the New Edition Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American not-for-profit professional theatre, in partnership with Blue Star Families, launched the Blue Star Theatres Program in 2012. and the military families in their communities. and the military families in their communities.

Blue Star Theatres Program activities have included a regrant program to support projects that strengthen relationships between theatres and military communities, special events at theatres around the country, an online directory of theatres offering discounted and free tickets and programs for military families, and a publishing program. Coming to Terms: American Plays and the Vietnam War was originally published in 1985. As American troops return home from Iraq and Afghanistan, and as we face the prospect of ongoing conflict in other parts of the world, it seems timely to reprint Coming to Terms as one component of TCGs Blue Star Theatres Program. TCGs Blue Star Theatres Program is meant to bring greater familiarity and understanding between the military community and the theatre community, so that there will be an expanded awareness of opportunities for healing and connection. We hope this program is an excellent example of how returning veterans can be engaged with a national community that cares. TCG is committed to honoring the extraordinary dedication of our service members and their families and facilitating these connections on a national scale.

This reprint of Coming to Terms is published by the generosity and leadership support of the MetLife Foundation. Contents James Reston, Jr. David Rabe Terrence McNally Amlin Gray Tom Cole Michael Weller Emily Mann Stephen Metcalfe by James Reston, Jr. Memory, especially collective memory, is a subtle and in many ways fragile act. Normally, we think of it as the dominion of historians, as if they always have the last word. , and their grand generalizations, The Tragic Era... , and their trenchant analyses, The Short and Long Range Causes of... , and it can sometimes be pretty dry stuff. , and it can sometimes be pretty dry stuff.

Almost inevitably, such tracts recount in splendid detail the perambulations of men in power. Stock questions are asked of every historical epoch. What will HISTORY record? What will the historians think one hundred years later? How will reputations stand the test of time? Vietnam will be different. For once, traditional historical method is inadequate. Facts and men in power are not at the core of this story, but rather the emotions of the generation which shouldered the profound consequences of this ill-conceived enterprise. The Vietnam generation, reacting to the decisions from on high, changed American society forever, and so the heart of the matter is emotional and cultural.

In the past several years weve heard quite a bit about the lessons of Vietnam. Briefly, it became a point of argument in the campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1984 between Gary Hart and Walter Mondale. A spate of books, usually churned out by former policy makers and historians of public policy, have purported to address the issue. Even a label now existsVietnam revisionismfor this brand of scholarship. The problem has been bandied around as the United States flirts with another Vietnam in Central America. And yet, for all the books, for all its mention in political debate, a sense of disquiet reigns.

Vietnam is not yet, by any measure, a digested event of American history. It is a national experience that is still denied and repressed, not one which is folded into the sweep of our history and which we calmly acknowledge as the downside of American potentiality. This is partly the failure of political leadership. Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter were too weak as men and as leaders to educate the country on the resonance of the first American defeat in war. They needed to be the leaders of the Second Reconstruction of American history, comparable to the first after the American Civil War. If, after our first divisive war, America became a more racially equal society, then after Vietnam America needed to become a less militarist society.