LETTERS HOME Opens Eccles Center's 2013-14 Season Tonight

"Extraordinary. Deeply Moving...profound" (Chicago Sun Times). The Eccles Center 2013-2014 Season opens with the powerful and relevant show "Letters Home." This portrait of today's soldier as told by Griffin Theatre's actors - through real dispatches from the front lines -comes to the stage tonight, October 26. Show starts at 7:30 p.m.

The voices of men and women serving in the Middle East enter the theater's spotlight for a 90-minute tour de force. Each letter, as told by an actor with minimal props, represents the individual experience of a man or woman serving in Afghanistan or Iraq; the occasional note from a parent to a son or daughter is also included in the powerful mix of voices.

Collectively, these epistolary writings-turned-monologues reveal the entire spectrum of human emotion through the intense prism of war. Without politicizing, each letter/performance reveals a glimpse of a very real situation, ranging from training, deployment and separation from family to combat and day-to-day life in an occupied zone. And the stories shed light on universal and human themes, such as patriotism, bravery, compassion, social responsibility, community and brotherhood.

The recipient of 46 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations, Griffin Theatre Company has presented a wide range of productions to its Chicago-based fans (as well as on the road for national audiences) for the past 25 years. Its production of "Letters Home" is inspired by the New York Times Op-Ed Article "The Things They Wrote" and the subsequent HBO documentary "Last Letters Home." Additionally, the play borrows letters and correspondences from Frank Schaeffer's books, "Voices from the Front," "Letters Home From America's Military Family," "Faith of Our Sons," and "Keeping Faith."

As part of its Student and Community Outreach Program, Park City Institute (PCI) will collaborate with the Kimball Art Center and the National Ability Center. PCI and the Kimball Arts Center will link the Griffin Theatre performance and the Kimball's exhibit, "Soldier Boy. Soldier Girl." (photography by Lynn Blodgett) to outreach experiences involving local students and teachers in letter writing projects. The Institute will also work with the National Ability Center on related outreach experiences that connect art and performing artists with the NAC's Wounded Warriors program.

Park City Performing Arts Foundation opens the 2013-2014 Eccles Center Season with Griffin Theatre's "Letters Home" on Saturday, October 26. The performance takes place at The George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Center for the Performing Arts (1750 Kearns Blvd., Park City). Show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets: range from $20 to $69* (20-percent discount for seniors, ½ price tickets for children ages 16 and under; $5 seats are available in the Copper Section for Summit County students (K-12).

Tickets and information are available at The Eccles Center box office, 435-655-3114 or www.ecclescenter.org.

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