By Michael Christensen
In 2009 Bunker 13 sprang from my experiences in the military, my fascination with the Vietnam War, and the wars in the Middle East.
I wanted to create a show that focused on the smallest level of men at war; – the squad. I was hoping to create some insight into the lives of soldiers deployed overseas and how they deal with the monotony, fear, tension, the Army and how they come to form a brotherhood of sorts.
My inspiration and model of sorts was Bassprov and perhaps Dirty Water from Boston – but I wanted to add some stakes. The idea that you could be called out of the bunker at any time to risk your life, or be suddenly attacked adds a nice tension.
I also wanted the theatricality of flashbacks, asides and trips downrange into the jungle, along with a flow of characters in and out of the bunker. The sound of the war intrudes into the bunker as well with incoming and outgoing artillery, sporadic automatic weapons fire and Huey helicopter fly-by’s.
We produced Bunker 13 at Jet City Improv in 2009 as a full-length improvised play. What surprised me was how popular the show was with women. They saw beyond the locker room humor and really became attached to the characters in the show. I was pleased with the characters that evolved very organically during the rehearsal process, during the run, and over the five years we have continued to perform the show.
In the end, I think the show continues to provide a gritty slice of life of the regular Army grunt in the Vietnam War, or any war.
The experiences I had in the Army influenced the show a great deal. Soldiers interact with each other in a unique way, part locker room, part boardroom, part junior high sleepover; all framed in this olive drab world tinged with menace, or danger. The language is coarse and profane – with lots of slang, some of it handed down from the occupation of Japan or earlier.
Even in the peacetime Army, the tasks and training are difficult and dangerous – weapons, explosives, rappelling, large armored vehicles traveling at night. I had a chance to work on the DMZ in Korea, carrying live ammo and knowing that I was being watched from observation posts in the North. In addition, many of the NCO’s I served with in the Army were Vietnam vets, real characters with plenty of hairy stories to tell.
The devil is in the details, and only a soldiers (or Vet) would know to place a C-Rations spoon in their penholder slot on their pocket to have it whenever needed, or hang a P-38 can opener on their dog tag chain so you never have to search for one. The costumes are authentic, as are many of the small hand props and set dressing – it all helps to set the tone, look and feel of Vietnam.
All of this helped bring a sense of realism to Bunker 13, for the audience and us!
Bunker 13 from Seattle is playing TWICE at the 2014 Improvised Play Festival. Friday, April 11th, 10:30pm and Saturday, April 12th, 9pm. Tickets and information are here.