Memorial a Play for Our Time!
Estimated reading time: 1 minute, 33 seconds
Last night I attended a performance of Memorial by the Pan Asian Repertory Company.
I am not, and this is not a review, but in my humble opinion, this is a must-see play.
As director Jeff Liu said during rehearsals, “this play encapsulates the best and worst of this country.”
The play is based on the events surrounding Maya Lin, the design and construction of the Vietnam Memorial.
I was alive and the time and remember the horrible comments made about Ms. Lin and the design. I have also visited and wept at the Memorial.
Angel Lin, whose superb acting as Maya Lin carries the performance, ends the play with a message for our country and me as a widow.
Colonel James Becker, played by James Patrick Nelson, has found the name of a fellow soldier on the wall and asks Maya what does she see?
“I do not see just the soldier you remember; I see all of them.”
The Vietnam Memorial successfully focuses not on statues but on the ordinary service members who lost their lives. As we read the names, we remember them and their lives.
As a widow, I say Jan’s name and have worked to keep it alive with her garden and education fund.
By doing this, I remember Jan’s memory, which is a blessing now and forever!
The Jan Lilien Education Fund sponsors ongoing sustainability and environmental awareness programs. Gifts made this month; I will match dollar-for-dollar. All donations are tax-deductible.
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Yesterday my grandson and I attended Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare at the Shakespeare Theatre of NJ.
It was the end of the season that both of us thoroughly enjoyed.
I often speak about going without Jan to the theatre, dinner, or a holiday party in the next few weeks.
Like King Solomon, my answer is an equal division between yea and nay.
Of course, if possible, I would prefer to attend with Jan.
‘Memorial’ Review: An American Story, Set in Stone
Estimated reading time: 1 minute, 33 secondsThe review by Naveen Kumar in the NYTimes confirms why this is a must-see play.
“How a country chooses to remember is a clear indication of its values. So what does it say that Lin’s distinctly American success story isn’t more widely known? “Memorial” does for Lin’s legacy what she has striven to do in her work — invite people to consider uncomfortable truths.”
The book Never Forget Our People Were Always Free is told through parables. It features intimate glimpses of political and 
