My motivation

This idea I had about informing people about military life came from a friend of my mothers. On facebook she had posted something that really impacted me. One of her sons, Peyton was playing outside with some friends. They had just moved from Kuwait to Florida and were settling in. Some other kids from Peyton's school walked by and yelled "Hey Kuwait, I thought you didn't have any friends". I was very moved  by this. Pissed off in fact. Just because we grew up moving around a lot didn't mean we didn't have friends. I remember ranting to my mom about it and getting really worked up. This is the event that inspired my play idea. I was just getting in deep with theatre and felt like it was the best way to communicate what military kids go through. This idea was born in between rage and sadness so it wasn't thought out very well and soaked in my own bias. So it never got written, I didn't know how to go about it. But the idea was always on my mind.

This past week I had the opportunity to attend The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival in Sacramento CA. One of the shows that was showcased was called Welcome Home Jenny Sutter by Julie Marie Myatt presented by The University of Idaho. It's about a US Marine who comes home from war but isn't ready to go back to her children. It's about her struggle coming back from the war and attempting to get back into "real life"

I loved it, I cried like a baby during the show too. If the young woman and young man who were sitting next to me are reading this, I do apologize. 

After seeing this show something with in me said, you need to write this play. I have this new found passion for this project. I want to write this play for the military children that get bullied or get confused when mommy or daddy deploy. Join me as I take on this project to inform the general public about military life. And hopefully help other military families cope with military life. 

The Beginning

I'm Alex Pingrey and I am a military child.
To most of us the word military has many different connotations. To me it means so much, it's everything to me. I started this blog not to rave or rant about the military but to advocate this play idea I have. There aren't many plays about the military. They are multiple movies with the aspect of military in them, but not many plays.

I want to write a play about the military. Not just about the wars and conflicts, we get enough information about that through the media. This play will be geared towards the home front, the families affected by the military life style. These families go through hell. I want to give a salute to these families. Most importantly the children. Have you ever had a conversation with a child? It's so innocent and filled with imagination. Imagine comparing that with the military aspect. That's what I want to do, I want to shed light on the before/during/after life of the military but through the eyes of the children. And how it affects them.

I don't want to do this alone. I am only one child, all of our stories and experiences are different. So I will be getting in touch with old military friends to see if they would like to help out. If you would like to help out send me a message at ampingrey@hotmail.com and we can talk more.

But getting help with this project isn't the main priority of this blog. This blog is where I can share my experience of play writing and the process of research with all of you. Hopefully it's entertaining. I've never written a play before but I feel really strong about this topic (obviously) So it should be a fun time!

A bit of back ground
I've been brewing on this idea for about a year now. I don't want to bring pity on military families. I don't want pity. I am who I am because of my up bringing and I wouldn't have it any other way. I want to re install  a sense of patriotism within our country. Politics and Religion won't do that, we all have our own beliefs and views on things and there is nothing wrong with that. But when it comes to men and woman giving up their freedom so we may have ours, I feel like that can bring us back together. And what better way to explain this than through the eyes of children. I feel like there is this bubble around military families, and people acknowledge that fact that these families exist but they do not understand. I want people to be aware of these families and understand.

Now this of course is all opinion based, it's my own opinion. I'm not asking you to agree with me. I'm asking you to start a conversation. Nothing will change without conversation.

So let's start talking

I'm a sophomore at Western State Colorado University and I am studying Communications and Theatre with an Emphasis is theatre and performance studies and organizational communications. I am a western ambassador(tour guide) as well as the student director of peak productions(theatre program) here at Western. I am 20 years old. I was born in Brookings, South Dakota, then I moved to Fort Carson, Colorado, then Fort Lee, Virginia,  then Fort Drum, New York, then Hickam Air Force Base, Oahu Hawaii, Woodland Park, Colorado, Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Gunnison Colorado.

That's the basics, I apologize for any grammar/spelling errors. I tend to make those a bit more than I would like

Questions/Comments/Concerns/IDEAS??
Contact me
ampingrey@hotmail.com
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