Veterans Expressions
The McMahon Memorial Auditorium in collaboration with Lawton Community Theatre is preparing to host “Veteran’s Expressions” a series of theatre workshops that aims to assist veterans and their family members in connecting and sharing stories through the performing arts: acting, playwriting and spoken word. The workshop will be held at the McMahon Memorial Auditorium, 801 NW Ferris, Lawton, Okla., March 14th – 19th, 2022.
Veterans, military family members, or family units will be teamed with qualified performing artists and/or poets and playwrights to teach them how to turn aspects of their personal journeys into short performance pieces.
Performing artists and instructors Doug Berky and Jeff Key, as well as Lawton Community Theatre Director Chance Harmon along with other volunteers will provide a week-long series of workshops with a final showcase of performances on March 19th featuring live performances by both Doug Berky and Jeff Key.
Doug Berky has been creating and evolving his own brand of physical theater for over thirty years. His original performances weave together classic theatre forms of mime, mask theatre, clowning, circus arts, physical comedy and storytelling. With each performance, Doug entertains, teaches, inspires and creates space for contemplation. Doug is known internationally for his mask construction. He designs and constructs the masks for his own performances as well as creating all of the sets, choreography, scripts and many of the costumes. His family friendly programs vary from Vaudevillian comedy to the tragedy of human folly
Jeff Key is an American actor, playwright, veterans advocate and activist. He is also an honorably discharged Marine and an Iraq veteran. His one-man performance piece, “The Eyes of Babylon,” is based on journal entries he wrote while at war. Key performed the play in several U.S. cities and in Ireland over a period of seven years. Key is the founder of The Mehadi Foundation, a non-profit organization designed to help veterans find solace and employment in the Arts/Entertainment industry and to support philanthropic efforts in Iraq. This foundation is named for a young Iraqi boy he met while in Iraq. He also works very closely with Warrior Writers, a national organization which helps veterans get pen to paper as well as other creative expression as healing tools.
Registration for Veteran’s Expressions begins on February 1st. For more information, please call 580-581-3470 or send an email to arts@lawtonok.gov with the subject line “RE: Veteran’s Expressions Registration”.
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The project is supported by the Oklahoma Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Oklahoma and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Oklahoma Arts Council is the official state agency for the support and development of the arts. The agency’s mission is to lead in the advancement of Oklahoma’s thriving arts industry.
Additional support provided by the McMahon Auditorium Authority, Lawton Community Theatre and the City of Lawton.
The McMahon Auditorium Authority is a City of Lawton public trust. The mission of the authority is to further the vision of Mrs. Louise D. McMahon to advocate the advancement
of the arts and other educational and cultural endeavors through the use of the McMahon Memorial Auditorium.