Lisa Velten Smith and Julie Jesneck Photo

From: Photo Flash: Roundtable Ensemble Presents SILENT HEROES

The Roundtable Ensemble (Kelly Ann Moore, Artistic Director and Joshua P. Weiss, Managing Director), now in its 10th season, will present the New York premiere of Linda Escalera Baggs' award-winning play 'SILENT HEROES,' inspired by a true story, and directed by Rosemary Andress. 'SILENT HEROES' will be presented at Theatre 54 at Shetler Studios, 244 West 54th Street, 12th floor (bet. 8th and 9th Aves). Performances will begin on January 8, and the official opening performance was Sunday, January 11 at 3:00 p.m. Performances will run through Saturday, January 24. Set shortly after the end of the Vietnam War, the wives of six Marine Corps aviators have gathered in the night after hearing that one of the base's jet fighters has crashed. The Corps has offered no comfort or information, but the women know that one of their husbands isn't coming home. 'SILENT HEROES' deals with women's rights, race relations, family, war and peace, and the tenuous social structure that enables military wives to cope with the constant fear that their husbands' lives, and their futures, could end suddenly. It won Best Play at FutureFest (Dayton, OH), at the Firehouse Theatre Festival of New American Plays (Richmond, VA), and at the Pittsburgh New Play Festival. TheaterMania's Peter Filichia was one of the judges at FutureFest and wrote this in his column: 'While I was watching Linda Escalera Bagg's Silent Heroes, I thought 'Hmm...this playwright has not only written six fat parts for women but also at least two parts that could very well win Tony Awards for the actresses playing them.' 'SILENT HEROES' was also honored with the Source Literary Prize in Washington, D.C. Linda Escalera Baggs is a Virginia-based playwright whose plays have been produced across the U.S.A. In addition to her award-winning Silent Heroes her full length plays include Harps & Harmonicas and Word War, and her one-acts and short plays include: Parting Words, The August Jinx, Welcome to Florida, Who's Margaret, and Dress Blues. Baggs is the daughter of a Marine colonel.