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Eight women, three children and a young man were all added to the list of civilians who have been killed in the war in Afghanistan in Friday. All 12 people died when their mini-van struck an explosive device buried in the road as they traveled through the Gereshk District in war torn Helmand Province. In the past six months, according to the United Nations, the war has claimed over 1,000 civilian lives.

Now a new play by writer Keliher Walsh called “The Year of the Rabbit” looks at the devastating effects of war on the human condition. Keliher captures the commonalities of suffering that occur in every war by intertwining two different stories. One story takes place during the 1970s Vietnam war where a young Vietnamese girl falls in love with an American GI. The other story line is set amidst the current war in Afghanistan where two young soldiers realize that the targets they’ve been bombing are actually civilian outposts rather than military ones.

The two powerfully interconnected plot lines offer a truly complex view of the effects of war. Gates McFadden the artistic director of Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA where the play is currently being shown, says, “One of war’s most damaging legacies is the passing on of unhealed emotional wounds to the next generation. Parents whose children die as fighters, or as civilians; children left to grow up without their parents. This play urges us to challenge institutional coverups, to demand that the military take responsibility for its unethical choices.”

GUESTS: Keliher Walsh the playwright, actress Elyse Dinh, who actually left Vietnam as a young child soon after the fall of Saigon and was directly affected by the Vietnam conflict.

Details about the play below:

WHAT:
Year of the Rabbit – the world premiere of Keliher Walsh’s haunting and deeply moving drama that intertwines the war in Vietnam and the present day conflict in Afghanistan to illuminate the devastating consequences of war across generations and ethnicities.

WHEN:

• Fri., Sept. 14 @ 8 pm (preview)
• Sat., Sept. 15 @ 8 pm (Opening Night)
• Sun., Sept. 16 @ 2 pm
• Sun., Sept. 16 @ 7 pm
• Fri., Sept. 21 @ 8 pm CANCELED
• Sat., Sept. 22 @ 5 pm
• Sat., Sept. 22 @ 8 pm
• Sun. Sept. 23 @ 2 pm
• Mon., Oct. 1 @ 8 pm
• Mon., Oct. 8 @ 8 pm
• Fri., Oct. 12 @ 8 pm
• Sat., Oct. 13 @ 8 pm
• Sun., Oct. 14 @ 2 pm
• Fri., Oct. 19 @ 8 pm
• Sat., Oct. 20 @ 5 pm
• Sun., Oct. 21 @ 7 pm
• Sat., Oct. 27 @ 8 pm
• Sun., Oct. 28 @ 2 pm

WHERE:
EST/LA @ Atwater Village Theatre
3269 Casitas Ave
Atwater Village, CA 90039

HOW:
323-644-1929 or www.ensemblestudiotheatrela.org
Join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Ensemble-Studio-Theatre-LA
Follow us on Twitter @EST_LA

TICKETS:
General Admission: $25
Sept. 16 and 23: Pay-What-You-Can
Previews: $15

PARKING:
FREE on-site