'The Shadow War' explores the CIA's secret paramilitary war in Laos

By Sheila Regan Fri., Sep. 7 2012 at 10:05 AM

Categories: Theater

Rehearsal photo from 'The Shadow War'

This Friday, a group of theater makers will be presenting a new work about the CIA's Secret War in Laos during the Cold War, an often ignored part of American history that preceded a genocide of Hmong people and mass immigration to the United States. The Shadow War Workshop Reading, taking place at the Lowry Lab, is based on playwright Amy Russell's experiences growing up in Laos as a child, in addition to research she and the directors and actors have done.

"The fact that the Secret War and its aftermath is not respected or owned as part of our history is a loss, not only to Lao-Hmong Americans but to all Americans. It is a loss of memory -- a loss of identity," says Teresa Mock, the play's director-facilitator. "This amnesia also contributes to a lack of perspective on current American activity abroad."

Rehearsal photo from 'The Shadow War'

Playwright Amy Russell lived in Laos from 1969-1971, experiencing with her family the Secret War. About four years ago, she began writing a play about that time. Recently, she partnered with Mock to work with a group of theater artists -- including Hmong and Lao actors -- to expand the piece in collaboration with the Center for Hmong Arts and Talent (CHAT). The collaborative group has spent a week prior to the reading doing devising work with videographers documenting the rehearsals.

The group will be founding as a company called We Theater, an ensemble of devisers. "We have been channeling some real magic this week, and the energy of this ensemble has been truly inspiring," she says.

The story takes place in Luang Prabang, where a CIA station chief (Erik Hoover), his wife (Isabel Nelson), their Hmong housekeeper (Sandy'Ci Moua), and a Pathet Lao agent hired as their guard (Song Kim) encounter the housekeeper's combatant brother (Jerry Lee).

The biggest struggle, Mock says, has been funding the project. They have been trying to raise $1,000 through a Kickstarter campaign in order to pay for travel and material expenses, though all of the artists are donating their time.

After this weekend's workshop reading, the group plans to interview Hmong and American veterans, as well as deepening the theatrical vocabulary for the story and clarifying the plot. A second phase of work will be devoted to evolving and finishing the project, with a premiere in September 2013.

IF YOU GO:

The Shadow War Workshop Reading
7:30 p.m. Friday
The Lowry Lab Theatre
350 Saint Peter St., St. Paul
View their kickstarter page here