After a successful 2018 run of Andrew Rosendorf’s play “Paper Cut,” Boulder-based Local Theater Company wanted more from the playwright.
"During the early part of the pandemic, artistic director Pesha Rudnick called me to be like, 'Hey, would you be interested in a commission? We were thinking a sequel to Paper Cut.' And I was like, 'Oh, I do not want to write a sequel to Paper Cut,'" Rosendorf recalled.
“Paper Cut” traced the experience of a gay soldier returning home from the war in Afghanistan and grappling with both his combat injuries and his sexuality.
But instead of revisiting familiar territory, Rosendorf proposed an exploration of an earlier, and little-explored, chapter of queer history during World War II. He brought on longtime collaborator Carlyn Aquiline as co-playwright, marking their first time building a play together from the ground up.
The pair dove deep into research, uncovering shocking truths about the treatment of gay soldiers.
"Our government, our army, our military, if they found out that you were gay while you were fighting overseas for this country … they would put you in what was called a queer stockade,” explained Rosendorf. “And then hold you and interrogate you for months and keep you there until eventually sending you back to the mainland with an undesirable discharge."
This stark reality forms the backdrop for "Stockade," which moves between different time periods to paint a comprehensive picture of LGBTQ+ experiences during the war and in the ‘Lavender Scare’ afterward. The title itself carries multiple meanings, as co-writer Aquiline explains:
"We started thinking about stockades in a much larger sense and in a metaphorical way. And we started thinking about how we create our own pens in life, or we get penned in by certain choices that we make," she said.
The play doesn't shy away from complexities within the LGBTQ+ community itself, exploring early gay rights movements and the often-conflicting approaches to activism and visibility. It touches on the work of organizations like the Mattachine Society, which organized some of the earliest protests for gay rights but also enforced strict dress codes for participants.
"Theater can challenge ideas and change the way that we think and live,” said director Christy Montour Larson. “(This) wasn't really all that long ago. And so protecting the rights for people to be able to walk through the world and live the life to live freely as who they are is a really important thing for people to see in a theater."
For the playwrights, the goal is not just to educate audiences about a forgotten chapter of history, but to inspire action in the present day.
"If people can leave this play and feel like, I might be one person, but my voice has meaning and I can do something, and that one person can affect and impact another person, which is how the gay rights movement started... that is what people can leave the theater after experiencing this play, thinking about in themselves,” Rosendorf said.
By giving "Stockade" its world premiere, Local Theater Company is reaffirming its ongoing commitment to developing and producing new works that tackle challenging subjects.
As theaters across the country continue to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company hopes productions like "Stockade" serve as a reminder of the unique power of live theater to educate, inspire and foster empathy.
"If you find yourself sitting at home, (I) just encourage you to go buy a ticket to go to the theater,” said Montour Larson. “Come see ‘Stockade,’ get yourself out amongst people. You'll laugh, you'll think, you'll feel things. It's probably one of the best things you can do for yourself is to go out to the theater.”
The world premiere of "Stockade" by Local Theater Company runs through Oct. 13 at the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder.
