Deployed: Staged Reading

The reading is FREE and open to the public. Reserve your seats through the Northern Stage Box Office at (802) 296-7000 or boxoffice@northernstage.org.

In 2016, writer and journalist Nicola Smith began interviewing female veterans in Vermont and New Hampshire to better understand the issues that face them and to give voice to their stories. She interviewed women from all branches and ranks of the military and from a variety of ages, ethnicities, backgrounds, and walks of life. “Female veterans’ perspectives are not often heard. Yet the effect of service on their lives, especially on their identities as women and as citizens, is transformative,” says Smith. “I realized that the intimacy and immediacy of theater would be a powerful way for audiences to hear these women’s stories.” Smith decided to write her first play and approached Northern Stage for advice. Northern Stage connected her to Samantha Lazar, a Yale-trained dramaturg and theater-maker who specializes in devising non-traditional theatrical works. In concert with project producer and Northern Stage Director of Artistic Outreach Amanda Rafuse, Smith and Lazar spent a year shaping the disparate narratives into a cohesive whole while developing the work’s structure, themes, and characters.

Deployed explores female veterans’ stories of combat, sexism, racism, ambition, sexual assault,resilience, reintegration into family life and civilian society, and pride in service. The narratives touch on some of the most pressing issues to confront Americans in recent years, from race to gender to #MeToo to the divide between civilian and military life.

The reading will take place at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Building 44 / The William A Ysinski Research and Education Building, 163 Veterans Drive, White River Junction, VT 05009.

A post-show conversation with the creative team and actors follows the reading, and due to the nature and content of the stories presented in the play, support services will be available on site.

The reading is made possible through the generous support of the Byrne Foundation, the Vermont Arts Council, the Vermont Community Foundation, and the Pussycat Foundation and is presented in partnership with the VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT.