PRESENTS

Stockade

a new play by

ANDREW ROSENDORF with CARLYN AQUILINE

Directed by

CHRISTY MONTOUR-LARSON^

***

September 26 - October 13, 2024
Dairy Arts Center
2590 Walnut St, Boulder, CO 80302

Stockade is a Local Theater Company commission

Stockade is generously sponsored by Sarah Pierce Martin and co-sponsored by Lari & Tom Abraham.

A Message from Playwrights Andrew Rosendorf and Carlyn Aquiline

What is the cost of standing in the light?

When Local commissioned us to write a piece exploring queerness during World War II and the Lavender Scare, we had no idea the journey it would take us on. As we researched, we were surprised to discover that our military locked up our own soldiers if they became known as homosexuals. They were removed from active duty and quarantined on bases in what became known as queer stockades. These homosexual soldiers were locked up for months enduring humiliation and interrogation before being sent home with an undesirable discharge. Their families were happy to see them while also wondering: Where is your uniform?

It surprised us that we hadn’t heard of the queer stockades. You’d think we’d all know about how American soldiers fighting for their country suddenly found themselves fighting their country, but then again… who gets to write history?

As we wrote, we kept in mind how a play set in the past can reflect our present. We always felt this play was going to be relevant — we just never anticipated it being this relevant. With the increase of anti-gay laws, anti-trans laws, and increasing attacks on those most vulnerable in our society, we hope this play inspires you to think about what we each can do to make a difference. It’s a call to action for all of us, in our own way, to be brave, to use our voice, and to stand in our truth — the light — no matter the cost.

MEET THE TEAM

Special Thanks

Curious Theater Company

Cipriano Ortega

Denver Center for the Performing Arts

The Savoy

Ondine Geary

Housing Partners

Jan Burton

Jennifer Cunningham

Sally Powell-Ashby

Soo Rhee & Nate Fristoe

Special Thanks from the Playwrights

Lari & Tom Abraham, the Aquilines, Mallory Raven-Ellen Backstrom, Nan Barnett, the Boyds, Joe Calarco, Nick Chase, Jeremy Cohen, Jenny Connell Davis, Goodman Theatre, Jonathan L. Green, Gabriel Greene, Betty Hart, Bruce Linser, Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams, Chip Miller, the National New Play Network, Susan H. Pak, Palm Beach Dramaworks, the Playwrights’ Center, Pesha Rudnick, Omer Abbas Salem, the Schwartzes, Wendy Weckwerth, Pirronne Yousefzadeh… and, of course, Local Theater Company

PRESS

COMING SOON

CREATIVE TEAM VISION BOARD | DRAMATURGY

HISTORY OF LGBTQ+ SOLDIERS IN WWII

Gay and Lesbian soldiers faced extraordinary discrimination during World War II. Most found new communities of people and thrived despite the oppression.

POST WWII

The Red Scare was hysteria over the perceived threat posed by Communists in the U.S. during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, which intensified in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

THE LAVENDER SCARE

After wide-spread fear of communism faded from the Red Scare, the focus shifted quickly to homosexuals in the US government. People claimed they were a threat to international security, infiltrated our government, and needed to be systematically removed.

Homosexual protestors gathered in Washington D.C. in front of the White House in 1965 for the first demonstration to protest job discrimination.

FIRE ISLAND

Fire Island served as a barrier island off the coast of Long Island, New York, where the LGBTQ+ community claimed a safe haven during and after WWII. It currently is one of the most thriving LGBTQ+ enclaves in the United States.