Infinite Variety Productions from Brooklyn New York presented In Their Footsteps at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. When anyone asks me about my sketching project in Europe, I always say, that I was following in my father’s footsteps in WWII. With that said, I could not resist going to see In Their Footsteps. This show was about five woman who served as nurses, librarians or members of the Women’s Army Corps during the Vietnam was.
When I entered the theater I picked a front row sketching vantage point. On the seat next to me there was a bandana which I thought someone might have left when they got up to leave the previous show. I made a note to myself to bring it to lost and found when I left after this show. Then a woman sat in the seat and put the bandana around her neck. That was odd I thought. She arrived late. Was she steeling someone’s bandana?
When the play started, she walked on stage. She was one of the five female nurses. To start the nurses talked about being excited to travel to the exotic country of Vietnam. The dialogue in the show was built from many oral histories from the actual women who served near the front lines. The women were actually direct targets for enemy fire. The enemy felt that if they killed a woman, then the men would become demoralized. None of these women were killed in action.
The women were also warned not to fraternize with the men. One nurse offered a ride to a soldier back to base and when her supervising officer found out, she got reprimanded. The isolation lead to the women building friendships amongst themselves. The gritty reality of the war cut off all the early optimism. Each woman just hoped to get home away from the harassment and enemy fire.
Toward the end of the show each woman held up artwork of the woman they were portraying. It was a clear reminder that these were very real stories being told. Some of the art work was lost in shadows because the portraits were not held right to catch the light. I guess when you look to the past some people are clearly seen while others recede into the shadows. This show helped showcase the bravery of these woman. The emotional impact lingered.