ONE MORE SPECIAL PRESENTATION

Monday, March 5 at 8p.m.
ART/New York Spaces
520 Eighth Avenue, 3rd Floor

Check it out: make reservations here.

ABOUT THE TORTURE PROJECT

Army reservist Matthew Maupin, from Ohio’s Union Township, has been missing since April 9th 2004 when he was captured by Iraqi insurgents in a convoy attack near the Baghdad airport. One week later, his image was flashed around the world in a videotape showing an American soldier surrounded by five men holding automatic rifles. 

And yet, there is no proof that Matt Maupin is dead.  He remains classified as “captured/missing.” JSTA continues its tradition of social investigation by delving into this unsettling story. 

At what point does faith become torture? The Torture Project is a work-in-progress collaboratively devised by ten actors, two directors, a choreographer and a playwright.  Drawn from interviews with soldiers and military family members, transcripts of government documents and text from journalists, the story is inspired by the real-life events surrounding the disappearance of Pfc Matt Maupin.  The Torture Project traces the destruction of a family torn apart by loss, the reactions of a small community in need of a hero, and the exploitation of these parties by the media and government.  Parents want answers to questions that have none.  Is their son dead?   Is he alive? He has simply vanished.

Our exploration of this story has included eighteen months of research beginning with the details of his story and its effect on his hometown community of Batavia, Ohio and branching out into related topics.  Included in our source work are materials on the history of torture, sleeplessness, post traumatic stress syndrome, the semantics of war, and personal stories of religious experiences and “faith.”