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Six years ago, what were you saying about the War On Terror? What about five years ago? Four? Three… Two What about yesterday? Did anything snide or flippant slip out during your afternoon office sugar-refueling break?
Get Your War On, presented by theater company The Rude Mechanicals from Austin, is a self-described Historical Docudrama presentation, whose topic is (what else?) the current war in Iraq. Adapted from the eponymous David Rees comic strip (which can be found in Rolling Stone and at getyourwaron.com), the play features simply a timeline of events, rather than a traditional plot. The audience watches as reccurring office workers fly off the handle, go out on a limb, conjecture about our country’s future… in short, express everything but satisfaction regarding the government, and do so with exceptional originality. Appropriately, there is a comic-strip style presentation to this performance — in fact, the majority of the set consists of five overhead projectors (remember those?) lined up, often acting as comic panels, and always as visual aides.
Get Your War On feels equal parts performance piece and stand-up comic show. It is, like the comic strip itself, a series of one-, two- and three-liners, all of which are delivered in succession by an appropriately self-aware, readily lovable ensemble. It is a given that the content has a deeply sad and serious undertone, but when you are preaching to the choir (read: New Yorkers) it is easiest to get drunk on the laughs provided, even when they are at your own expense.
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