Nine Years Later: Why Their Stories Still Matter
It’s been nearly a decade since I first sat across from those five remarkable women who served in Vietnam: Ann, Judy, Jeanne "Sam," Lily, and Lucki. I had no idea how profoundly their stories would affect me. Each brought a different perspective: Ann as a Special Services Librarian, Judy in Special Services Recreation, Jeanne "Sam" with the Red Cross as a "Donut Dollie," Lily as an Army Nurse, and Lucki as an Army Intelligence Specialist. Their stories have lived with me ever since, growing and evolving as we’ve found new ways to share them with audiences around the world.
As we prepare for our first production back in the U.S. since 2019, I find myself reflecting on how this journey began.
In 2016 - 2017, I was studying Women’s History at Sarah Lawrence College, immersed in papers about political theatre. Then came the 2016 election. I remember walking to class on the day of a protest, thinking: What am I doing?
I kept returning to a quote that had long resonated with me:
“Documentary performances often emerge in response to social or political crises; documentary playwrights offer their audiences a theatrical presentation of real events to inspire critical questions about history, memory, and justice—as well as provoke social action to change the world outside the theater walls.”
That quote captured what I believed theatre could - and should - do. So instead of finishing my thesis, I made a life-changing decision: I left school to complete my first documentary play. It was a leap of faith I’ve never regretted.
The first full production happened in 2018. The lines “No war is worth it,” “You have to separate the war from the warrior,” and “The United States and our own government lied to us” ring louder now than they did back then.
Now, in pre-production in 2025, I was asked what I hope for this production. My answer? That someday, it no longer needs to be relevant.
I want veterans to be treated with the dignity they deserve. I want the bravery and roles these women were forced to step into to be taught and honored everywhere. I want the headlines to shift - from the architects of war to those who are affected by it. I want those who are hurt to be seen. To be heard. To be talked about.
Photos of the 2018 production of In Their Footsteps courtesy of Noelle Fair Photography.
