Read a Scene from the Show

Read a Scene from the Show

The playwright, Lee Cataluna, labels the first scene of her play as “A choral piece for four actors.” Have groups of students read aloud the play, as you imagine the actors might.

Procedure:
• Create groups of four
• Hand out copies of the scene
• Have each group decide who will speak which lines (and write their names by each line)
• Have each group read aloud the scene, speaking together on the “All” lines

HOME OF THE BRAVE opening scene

ALL: My family is a military family

 My home is where ever we’re stationed.
 I am a military brat.
 That’s what they call the child of a sailor
 A soldier
 An airman
 A marine
 The military has its own words, and lots of short ways of saying longer things.
 MOS means Military Occupational Specialty which means “job”. MWR means Morale, Welfare and Recreation, which means “fun”.
 PCS means permanent change of station. PCS means to move.

ALL: We PCS a lot.

 I have friends in different countries.
 When teachers pull down the world map, I can say, “I’ve been there and there and there”
 I was born in Germany, but I’m not German.
 I lived in Japan but that’s not my home.
 Sometimes, you’re brand new to a place but it feels like home.

ALL: HOME

 And then –

ALL: You PCS again.

 I worry about my mom when she’s deployed to Afghanistan.
 I worry about my dad when he’s on a ship in the East China Sea.
 It’s not an easy life, but there are good things.
 I know things other kids don’t know.
 I can name every aircraft in the sky.
 I can make new friends really fast.
 I can pack everything I own –

ALL: Into two boxes.

 I’m good at waiting,
 good at helping,
 good at adjusting.
 It’s a challenging life, but I love it,
 though it’s not for everybody.
 You have to make a home wherever you end up.
 You have to know what it means to be

ALL: brave.

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