Hello Readers!
With only four days left until opening night, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to your marvelous “Telling: Austin” cast. They are truly an inspiring group with incredible stories to tell.
Regina Lee Nelson
was born in 1978 on a Marine Corps Base and joined the Corps at the age of 19. She is a brave survivor of Military Sexual Trauma, and developed Fatigues Clothesline to reach out to other victims of MST. The Clothesline has been on display at the National Veteran’s Art Museum since 2011 in the exhibits “Radical Vulnerability” and “Overlooked/Looked Over.” Regina has been interviewed by Italian Vanity Fair and Rolling Stones Magazine for her profound work. She was also interviewed for the Documentary The Invisible War, which won the Audience Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar this year. Regina also helped write the Stop Act, bill HR3435. She is currently working towards a degree in Criminal Justice with a minor in Psychology at Texas State University.
Leila Levinson
is a teacher, writer, speaker, and advocate for veterans and their families. She is the author of Gated Grief: The Daughter of a Nazi Concentration Camp Liberator Discovers a Legacy of Trauma, which won the 2011 May Sarton Memoir Award from the Story Circle Network and the 2011 President’s Award from the Military Writers Society. The founder of veteranschildren.com— a site that creates a bridge of stories between veterans and their children– Levinson leads a writing workshop for veterans and family members at the Austin VA, the result of two years of advocating that the local VA make art programs available. She is a member of AVFAC, the consumer council for the Austin VA.
Steven E. Metze
graduated from West Point and continues to serve in the Texas Army National Guard with almost 24 years of military service, including deployments in Desert Shield/Storm, Bosnia, and Iraq. He has an MFA in Film and Video production, and has directed the documentaries Über Goober, a Film about Gamers, and Year At Danger chronicling his deployment to Iraq. He is also the author of The Zombie Monologues, as well as numerous role-playing-games and miniatures war game rulebooks and sourcebooks he writes for his small gaming company, Über Goober Games.
Malachi Muncy
holds a BA in journalism from the Texas State University and is currently pursuing a BA in English. Malachi is the manager at Under the Hood Cafe, a GI Outreach Center in Killeen. Malachi’s poetry and prose have appeared in the Warrior Writers anthologies. Malachi’s print and papermaking art work has appeared at The National Veterans Art Museum, Chicago. He holds paper making workshops at Under the Hood, Texas State University and other locations in Central Texas and the Texas Hill Country.
Laura Muncy
is sometimes an artist, occasionally human, wife, mother, and lover of useless facts that cram easily into the sulci. She currently studies and works at Texas State University and everyday finds herself inspired by the horizon. She is the daughter of two Army helicopter mechanics and wife to Malachi Muncy, who served in the Army National Guard.
Anisa Moyo
is currently a student at ACC. She is a former combat medic in the U.S. Army and deployed to Iraq in 2006-2007. Anisa is a member of the Veterans Writing Project (mentored by John Morthland and Alice Shukalo) and is affiliated with Ballet Afrique, a dance company and academy dedicated to making the arts accessible to young people and the community.
Jenn Hassin
one of six children, joined the United States Air Force in 2005 to bring structure to her life. She served as a Dental Technician at RAF Lakenheath, near Cambridge, England. During this time,she traveled across Europe and submerged herself in the culture. One month after exiting military service in 2009, she became a mother to her only son, Jackson. In 2012, she graduated from Saint Edward’s University in Austin, Texas with a B.A. in Studio Art. Through her passion for art, Jenn continues to serve after the military by raising awareness about social issues and using statistics to fuel her art. She is currently starting a Non Profit Organization called Wings of Courage, which will be a fundraising hub for Sexual Abuse Victim Services. She hopes to tell her story of being sexually abused, as a child and an adult, to the world to help prevent sexual abuse and raise awareness.
Laura Hammons
mother of two, lives in Austin and runs in many activist circles. She proudly participates in Occupy movements and performs guerrilla street theater. In 2006, she started Daughters of Vietnam Veterans after a visit to Camp Casey, a protest at the George Bush Ranch. Laura’s father is a Vietnam Veteran. She became politically active after several attempts to find and get help for her homeless and disabled father. Her hope is that one day, military families will march on Washington and women will lead a revolution. In her words, she likes to dream.
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Yesterday, the “Telling: Austin” cast and crew met for a very exciting rehearsal. This was our first rehearsal with the newly revised script, including edits made by the cast members themselves. This was also our first day of individual monologue work, in which we met one-on-one with cast members to help them find the emotional center of their stories and deliver them in such a way that is most honest to themselves. Most impressively, the gang managed to nail almost all the blocking for the first act! Personally, I’m amazed at how much fun we managed to have during such a productive afternoon. This is one hilarious, and talented, bunch.
