Sedition

Based on a true story, SEDITION follows an innocent man accused of sedition during the war hysteria of World War I. "Passing Veterans Green on my way home from the Westport Country Playhouse last week, I was struck by the suddenly ambiguous statue of a World War I doughboy carrying his kit bag, helmet and rifle. Somehow, he looked burdened rather than glorious, more worn-out than brave. Surely the memorial hadn't changed; it was me. I was coming from David Wiltse's new play and my head was full of questions about America's participation in that tragic, famously unnecessary conflict. A playwright who rattles the way you see things must be doing something right. In SEDITION, Mr Wiltse reaches back to his own family history, chronicling his grandfather's World War I run-in with the enforcers of patriotism. It's a compelling story in itself, but Mr Wiltse pointedly underlines the parallels between Woodrow Wilson's decision to enter the war against Germany and George W Bush's decision to invade Iraq ..." -Sylviane Gold, New York Times "David Wiltse's political drama SEDITION ... is an eloquent, incisive and witty play sure to push a theatergoer's buttons and trample raw nerves. In the tradition of Ibsen's AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE, Miller's THE CRUCIBLE and Mamet's OLEANNA, SEDITION is a passionate plea for personal freedom, honor and justice. Just as Miller's THE CRUCIBLE examines a (then) contemporary injustice - HUAC's bullying effort to ruin liberalism through the prism of a bygone travesty, the Salem witch hunts of the 1690s - Wiltse's use of the past begs the question of the present ... SEDITION is provocative theater filled with complexity and expressiveness. To whichever side one leans, it is highly unlikely that the play will leave anyone feeling indifferent." -E Kyle Minor, New Haven Register