After a sold-out and critically-acclaimed run at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in April 2017, CRE Outreach, in partnership with the Veterans Empowerment Theatre, is pleased to announce a one-weekend extension of THE HERO WITHIN, the powerful play which brings veterans’ personal stories to life through an artistic journey that gives voice to the difficulty of transitioning from the war zone back into society as they search for the hero within themselves. Thanks to ticket demand, extension performances have been added the weekend of July 7-9, 2017 on Friday and Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 3pm at the Promenade Playhouse, 1404 3rd St. Promenade, Santa Monica, CA 90401. A talkback with the cast and director will take place following each performance.
The production features a cast of seven local veterans appearing as themselves: (in alphabetical order) Harold Boons, Chris Thouart Curtis, Patricia Jackson-Kelley, Monty Montgomery, Ruben Thomas, Jr., Judy Welch, and Jonaton Wyne. Their true stories have been woven together by Greg Shane, Artistic Director of CRE Outreach, and Melvin Johnson, playwright and founder of Dramastage-Qumran, who joined forces to give our nation’s brave service members a safe environment in which to voice their own heroic stories, personal tragedies and experiences through theater.
“The Hero Within” follows the trials and tribulations of these seven brave men and women along their path from civilian life to joining the military, to their return home and back into society as they search for the hero within themselves. The show includes both lighthearted comedy and dramatic moments that will leave audiences on the edge of their seat.
The play was originally inspired when, after completion of a successful operation, the Joint Task Force of the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines gathered veterans to be recognized as heroes. However, the effects of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which can occur after you have been through a trauma, defined as a shocking and dangerous event that you see or that happens to you, causing you to think that your life or others’ lives are in danger, can trigger veterans to do the unthinkable after their return. Going through this type of trauma is not rare. About six of every 10 men (or 60 percent) and five of every 10 women (or 50 percent) experience at least one such trauma in their lives. Women are more likely to experience sexual assault and child sexual abuse. Men are more likely to experience accidents, physical assault, combat, disaster, or to witness death or injury.
Now you have a chance to hear local veterans who have gone through it share their stories of overcoming such stress and living their lives to the fullest.
Tickets for “The Hero Within” are available for $15. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit tinyurl.com/theherowithin or call (310) 902-8220. Available tickets will go on sale a half hour prior to each of the 3 performances on Friday, July 7, 2017 at 8pm, Saturday, July 8 at 8pm, and Sunday, July 9 at 3pm, at the Promenade Playhouse box office, 1404 3rd St. Promenade, Santa Monica, CA 90401. There is metered street parking and pay parking lots in the area.
