ReEntry; American Records Theater Company

ReEntry, a play by Emily Ackerman and K. J. Sanchez, is composed entirely from the words of Marines and their families. The play is considered “documentary theater” in its re-telling of actual events and personal perspective. In addition to addressing the issues and experiences of service members and their families, ReEntry also explores the relationships between Marines and the civilians they fight for overseas and must contend with when they return home. With divisions between service members and civilians existing even within families, this theater experience creates the occasion for mothers to understand the decisions of sons and daughters, and for neighbors to gain perspective on members of their community. ReEntry has been performed at military installations and community theaters across the country, playing to audiences both bearing witness for the first time and feeling the bittersweet pangs of recognition or familiarity.

The play was first commissioned by Two River Theater Company in Red Bank, NJ in 2009, and has since been produced seen at 12 national theaters and over thirty military bases across the country and internationally, including 12 staged readings at VA hospitals in the NY and NJ areas. ReEntry was the flagship production of American Records Theater Company, and the company has since gone on to create several other productions that support the mission of cultivating empathy and understanding between communities. ReEntry has found such success that other theater companies have selected the play for their own productions.