The Roundtable Ensemble

Set shortly after the end of the Vietnam War, the wives of six Marine Corps aviators have gathered in the night after hearing that one of the base's jet fighters has crashed. Secrets are revealed as they wait to find out which one of their husbands is not coming home.

Offering a glimpse back to a period not so long ago, Silent Heroes is not only about these women's struggle with the meanings of sacrifice at a time when political, cultural and social changes divided our country. It is about race relations, women's rights, war, peace, family, loneliness, and a tenuous social structure that enables military wives to cope with the constant fear that their husbands' lives and their futures could end.

Inspired by a true story, Silent Heroes won "Best Play" at FutureFest (Dayton, OH), at the Firehouse Theatre Festival of New American Plays (Richmond, VA), and at the Pittsburgh New Play Festival. It has also been honored with the Source Literary Prize (Washington, DC).

The Roundtable Ensemble is proud to present its New York premier.

Named one of Broadway World's 2009's Ten Memorable Theater Moments You Might Have Missed!

The New York theater world is ... mounting several significant productions this winter and spring that wrestle with themes of war, its legacy, and responsibility and accountability. Recent war-themed productions have largely zeroed in on matters of moral, social or familial accountability and obligations, some subtly and some through more overt methods. Stephen Belber's The Geometry of Fire, as well as Prayer for My Enemy, The Language of Trees and the revival of Arthur Miller's All My Sons, all considered the effect of a family member's wartime experiences on his loved ones. The revival of David Rabe's Streamers dealt with the bonds among soldiers. Silent Heroes, a play about a group of military wives waiting to learn which one of their husbands has died, is an extended argument about the morality of both war and the warriors.
          - Patrick Healy, The New York Times
            Sunday Arts & Leisure, "Of War, Peace and Paying Customers"

While the script stands strong on its own, the actresses command the story with their extraordinary interpretation of Baggs's words. Each performer embodies her character with tenacity, capturing not only the idiosyncrasies of each wife's persona, but also the depths of her struggles as a military spouse. Each woman balances her character's remarkable strength and crushing sorrow, allowing audience members to forget they are watching a play and instead remember that they are witnessing the real pain of military wives. Baggs's work serves as a Purple Heart of sorts for the silent heroes gone too often unrecognized: the spouses and families of those serving in the military. In this time of war, Silent Heroes must not be missed.
          - Carly Dahlen, Show Business Weekly

Linda Escalera Baggs' excellent drama tells of true Steel Magnolias: six wives of Marine fighter pilots. Baggs offers excellent orchestration of character, and the six extraordinary actresses get each nuance. As for Rosemary Andress' direction, it is taut and full of suspense. She makes sure that your heart steadily makes its way to your mouth.
          - Peter Filichia, TheaterMania

As six women wait together to find out which of their husbands' planes has crashed, the grimmest experiences of U.S. Marine wives during the Vietnam War become painfully clear in Linda Escalera Baggs' Silent Heroes. Playwright Baggs debunks the myth of Marine wives as Stepford wives from a number of viable angles as we watch the women reveal their miserable secrets one by one. She tells their stories with pathos and often with eloquence. The wives' steadfast commitment to love their husbands and their country is unquestionable. It's also intriguing to see them point out holes in the civil rights and women's liberation movements. But with endurance as their chief collective virtue, it can be difficult to distinguish between courage and resignation. Through their poignant performances and Rosemary Andress' insightful direction, Silent Heroes regains its strength.
          - Ronni Reich, Back Stage

Silent Heroes, a classically crafted, "well made" play, expertly fashioned and focused on an alternate view of an area of the American experience we have deemed especially American: the iconic, exalted role of the dedicated U.S. Marine whose code, Duty, Honor, Country, immutable, unchanging, unquestionable, is the bedrock of belief and behavior not only for the men in the Service but inevitably, their wives. That was 1975. Director Rosemary Andress has cast her company – for they are a company; it is essential to the telling of the play – so acutely it's hard to imagine other actors in these roles. They are all astonishingly good; this is a splendidly calculated production. I admired all the participants, and I'll think about these new thoughts for a long, long time.
          - Eugene Paul, Theaterscene

The evening is well paced and suspenseful like Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians as the audience gets emotionally involved with each discovery of a surviving pilot. (There are working clocks on stage and I didn't notice how much time had gone by until the play was nearly done.) The fine work from the terrific ensemble has you admiring each character's ability to cope with an impossible situation. Though you may walk into Silent Heroes with certain feelings about patriotism, the military, gender roles and an assortment of other issues, be prepared for convincing, passionate arguments from the other side. And while you're at it, be prepared with tissues, too.
          - Michael Dale, Broadway World

Effectively directed by Off-Broadway veteran Rosemary Andress, Silent Heroes reflects the lives of service wives who were volunteered for the Marines along with their husbands whom they willingly support without any clear idea of what will be demanded of them. Due to Escalera's talent as a writer, the audience has shared the woman's suspense to a remarkable degree of emotional engagement.
          - Frederick M. Winship, United Press International

The script, which has won best play awards and two theater festivals, is exciting. It reads well. But it plays even better. Director Rosemary Andress has created an ensemble entity that would thrill theatergoers on any stage. All the actors have fully inhabited their roles, and in a small space like Theatre 54 it's impossible to fool anyone. The Roundtable Ensemble, which is presenting Silent Heroes in its New York premiere production, is to be congratulated for bringing this poignant and meaningful play to audiences here.
          - Diana Barth, The Epoch Times

Linda Escalera Baggs' Silent Heroes is a long overdue story about the invisible and forgotten victims of military life – the families. Baggs has done a brilliant job of capturing the many facets of life in 1975. And with the help of a sublime cast, just as brilliant is her depiction of the wives. Without parades, medals, ranks or pay raises, they sacrifice on a daily basis, giving up their sense of security so we can maintain ours. Silent Heroes will bring a tear to your eye and a warmth to your heart.
          - Laurie Lawson, Electronic Link Journey

Baggs's crafty, cheeky, and exciting dialogue gives the cast great material to work with; the stellar performances give Baggs's play something to live for. With characters that are as different as night and day, there's always something thrilling, intellectually stimulating, compelling, or a combination of the three going on.
          - Cindy Pierre, New Theater Corps

The premise of Silent Heroes is rich with tension: one of six fighter planes has crashed just moments before the play opens, but it's not yet clear whose husband has perished in the accident. Bracing for heartbreak, the group collects into an underground room at the base to wait. A sense of dutiful camaraderie is obvious between the six women, but each of their attempts to remain calm in the face of death causes underlying conflicts within the group to burst onto the surface. In a situation such as this, is it possible to not secretly wish for the death of a friend's husband? Silent Heroes is a success, thanks largely to its affecting premise, its bouncy, entertaining dialogue and its strong performances.
          - Laura Palotie, Off-Off Online

The pleasure in the production is in the ensemble and solo work of the cast. Director Rosemary Andress orchestrated emotional and physical movement deftly. This play opens a window on a cohort of women who share the worries but not the social mobility of the wives in The Unit and, as such, is worth its efforts.
          - Dorothy Chansky, New York Theatre Wire

This is the New York premiere of Silent Heroes and it is a true ensemble piece with six wonderful actresses portraying fully realized individuals who are as real and honestly written as I've seen. Playwright Linda Escalera Baggs has done a masterful job of letting us get to know, intimately but without overt sentimentality, the inner workings of military wives. Each [of the actresses] embody their characters so fully and infuse them with such humanity, realism and humor that you sit back afterwards and say "yes, that is what actors are meant to do". Adding to the ease with which we can suspend our disbelief are the era-perfect costumes - down to nail polish shades straight out of the '70s - by Kevin Hucke and Nick Francone's appropriately understated and vaguely depressing waiting room set that looks like it might have been lifted right out of a civic building circa '70s - right down to the coffee cups (the same ones my own mother had in the '70s). Rosemary Andress has kept her characters clearly defined and done a beautiful job creating the feeling that we are being allowed to peek into the private lives of people we would otherwise never know except by their public personas. She makes clever use of an intimate setting and keeps the action moving at a perfect pace. The beauty of this piece is how we are invited into their lives which despite the trappings of the military and on-base life are not so very unlike our own.
          - Joy Keaton, Speak The Speech I Pray You