The Good War Theater Project
Telling the truth in a small town strengthens a community
The Good War Theater Project of Ukiah, which ultimately became Telling the Truth in a Small Town, began when Project Director Kate Magruder invited residents to participate in a stage adaptation of Studs Terkel's "The Good War." Magruder hoped the project would inspire neighbors to begin sharing their own experiences of World War II, but she didn't anticipate just how far the desire to share personal history and experience would reach into the greater community. The eclectic first cast consisted of both veteran and first-time actors, people of all ages and backgrounds, including a Potter Valley high school sophomore, a Vietnam War veteran and a 75-year-old retired business executive who had served on a destroyer in the Pacific during World War II. Before rehearsals even started, cast members began to tell their personal stories. A Vietnam veteran related how old films depicting the glory of World War II inspired him to join the Marines right out of high school, only to find himself experiencing a war and homecoming vastly different from the romantic images of his childhood. Another woman, whose parents had met in labor camps in Eastern Europe, described how the starvation and deprivation of the camps had colored and shaped her mother's sense of the world and, by extension, her own.Eventually, a new theater piece, Telling the Truth in a Small Town, emerged, centered around the personal stories of residents. What began as a small theater project quickly grew into a communitywide effort to tell and hear the stories of neighbors, friends and family members eager to share their experiences of how World War II shaped their understanding of the world.
The performances grew to incorporate audience participation and, eventually, newspaper features, discussion groups, exhibits, school projects and radio programs. As Magruder said, The Good War Theater Project sparked "a community dialogue between parents, children, neighbors and people in local grocery stores. Questions were asked that had never been asked before. There seemed to be a sense in the community that we did this together, that we'd broken something open -- the fear of telling each other our own stories."