On Veteran’s Day, the Hollywood American Legion Post 43 in Los Angeles Liberty Theater presented the world premiere of Everything In Between, a play dealing with four generations of vets and their unique difficulties after coming home.
“Invisible injuries, often with devastating consequences, follow our soldiers back home. I have always had a story in my head about different generations of Veterans, from all branches of the military, coming together to help one another heal. It’s about the human condition we all share and the specific condition that veterans share, along with the hope that things are somehow going to get better,” explains Rebecca Stahl, playwright.
The American Legion was formed in 1919 to give all veterans a place to congregate together in fellowship as well as memorial. The Hollywood post raised funds with the help of A-listers Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Ida Lupino Clark Gable, Rudolph Valentino, Clara Bow, Mary Pickford, and the Marx Brothers who attended their boxing matches along side blue-collar patrons. The building described as “military in character and a dignified solution to the problem of combining a memorial and a clubhouse,” by the Los Angeles Times was opened on July 4, 1929.
The play was produced by the community veterans’ organization, Hollywood Post 43 of the American Legion. The cast, crew, and design team include U.S. military veterans.
Everything In Between opened on November 11th (Veteran’s Day) and ran through December 11, 2016.