Carlsbad Playreaders Take Theatergoers on an Unforgettable Journey on June 17

Nineteen-year-old Elliot has recently returned to his hometown from Iraq with a leg injury and a difficult choice: Should he go back to war a second time? Elliot takes an unforgettable journey across time and generations as he learns the stories of his father and grandfather who served in Korea and Vietnam. Carlsbad Playreaders presents Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue on June 17 at 7:30 p.m. at Carlsbad City Library’s Ruby G. Schulman Auditorium, located at 1775 Dove Lane. Suggested donations of $5 for adults and $1 for students are taken at the door.

"Elliot, A Soldier's Fugue is that rare and rewarding thing: a theater work that succeeds on every level, while creating something new,” cheered the New York Times. Written by Quiara Alegría Hudes, who has been hailed as “one of the most important playwrights of her generation,” the play was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2007. Hudes is also the author of Water by the Spoonful, winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and wrote the book for the acclaimed Broadway musical In the Heights, which received the 2008 Tony Award for Best Musical.

Hudes based her play Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue on the experiences of her cousin Elliot, who enlisted in the Marines when he was 17 and was sent home after being injured in Iraq. According to a November 2012 New York Times article, “After he left Iraq, Mr. (Elliot) Ruiz said he struggled to come to terms with his time there and with a grievous leg wound that pulled him from active service. Ms. Hudes’s plays seem to have helped him.”

The Carlsbad Playreaders reading of Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue is directed by Dori Salois and features Steven Lone, Celeste Innocenti, John Padilla, Spike Sorrentino, Robin Felix and Pablo Rojas. In keeping with the lyrical theme of the play, the reading will feature live guitar music. Salois shared, “I am a fan of plays with music. This particular play struck me as having an underscore, like a musical fugue. The language lends itself to music and I wanted to punctuate the dialogue almost like a film score."

For more information about Carlsbad Playreaders, visit www.carlsbadplayreaders.org or call 760-602-2012. Carlsbad Playreaders is made possible in part by the Carlsbad Library and Arts Foundation’s Robert H. Gartner Cultural Endowment Fund.