Photography by Isaiah Walk

“A Separate Peace was very eye-opening and really made me think about society and the way we judge or outcast people when they choose to do something that is against the "social norm". My friends and I enjoyed it very much. It was beautifully done.”

Reginald Sellote, patron

Director's Note

What is peace? There are multiple definitions of the word. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary says peace is a state of tranquility or quiet; or freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions. For me, peace is feeling happy, content, and free. There are many things I enjoy that make me feel peaceful; a hike in the mountains, a day at the beach, a good book in a bubble bath. These are all actions that society accepts as “normal”ways to find personal peace, but what happens to those of us who have experienced traumatic events and the simple pleasures in life are not enough to quiet oppressive thoughts and emotions? How do veterans of war, find peace in everyday life? Many of them do not. Many young men and women returning from war struggle to reenter our society as a civilian. According to United States Department of Veterans Affairs roughly 22 veterans commit suicide per day. That is one every 65 minutes. The unemployment rate of veterans in the US who have served overseas in the last 15 years is over one percent higher than the national average. Are these men and women struggling to find peace? What does peace look like for them? Perhaps the path to finding peace after being surround by violence is a very different path than it is for those of us who have never lived through such traumatic events. In this play we see a man who is searching for his own personal peace in an unconventional way and those around him cannot accept it. He is not harming anyone and yet he is told what he is doing is not good for him. His response is, “You mean it wouldn't be good for you. How do you know what's good for me?” So the questions I leave you with are, how do we as a society know what is good for anyone but ourselves and should we as a society be more open to more unconventional paths to finding individual peace?