Bringing the World to the Stage
BU alum’s first play runs in New York through June 28
Volunteering for the Peace Corps after graduation, Delaware native Damian Wampler (CAS’99) spent the next seven years traveling the world, teaching English as a second language in Kyrgyzstan and the Slovak Republic, recruiting students for exchange programs in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, earning a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin, and doing research on a Fulbright scholarship in Kyrgyzstan.
In 2006, he finally settled in New York City and began writing.
His first play, Twin Towers, focuses those experiences in front of an audience.
Twin Towers is many-layered, bringing elements of personal experience, city life, and global perspectives to the stage, some drawn from Wampler’s struggle to readjust to American life after an extended time abroad.
Wampler’s play is set in the Bronx, the story of two childhood friends, known in the neighborhood as the Twin Towers, returning home — Trevor from a military tour in Iraq and Jamal from an overseas stint in the Peace Corps. They discover they’ve grown apart and have lost their youthful innocence. The cast is African-American, the dialogue peppered with conversations overheard on the Bronx streets.
Wampler incorporates music, dance, and Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art form. According to director Angela Astle, these components “create a lyrical piece that is both whimsical and realistic of an urban neighborhood, as the characters try to hold on to their childhoods.”
“I feel that it is my job as a playwright to focus on the issues that are most critical, to open people’s eyes, and be the bridge between cultures,” Wampler explains. “This play will impact anyone who has stood up for something they knew was right, even though everyone told them it was wrong.”
Twin Towers opened Friday, June 12, at the Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette St., New York City; the play will be performed six times through June 28 as part of the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity. Proceeds will benefit the nonprofit organization ENACT, which uses role play and drama therapy techniques to help New York City students. More information about the production is available here.
Comments & Discussion
Boston University moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (EST) and can only accept comments written in English. Statistics or facts must include a citation or a link to the citation.