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Photographed by Matt Sesow from his press packets, October 18, 2026; text transcribed from the photos by Claude.

[Cover, Get Out — MARCH 31 THROUGH APRIL 6 2005 — FREE — MOVIES • DINING • MUSIC • ARTS • CLUBS]

The Arts

[Teaser:] 'Collateral' melds acting, painting, politics — Series of 10-minute plays brings war back into spotlight — ARTS 38

[Cover caption:] Chaos prevails, with a hint of Munch's "The Scream," in Washington D.C. painter Matt Sesow's "Collateral Damage (A Living Hell)" (acrylic on canvas, 2005), which forms the basis — and title — of Raymond Shurtz's latest collaborative theater project. — Courtesy of Matt Sesow

[Page 38]
Art of war
Playwrights explore politics through painting, acting

PLAY PREVIEW — 'Collateral Damage'
Where: Metro Arts Institute, 1700 N. Seventh Ave., Phoenix
When: Opens Friday, runs 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday through April 16
How much: $10, $8 for students
Info: (602) 258-4798

By CHRIS PAGE
Get Out

We interrupt the regularly scheduled coverage of the Michael Jackson trial to bring you the following reminder:

There's still a war going on.

Nearly two years after President Bush declared major combat operations over in Iraq, Valley playwright and director Raymond Shurtz is contributing a wartime wake-up call with "Collateral Damage," a theater production staging 10 plays, each 10 minutes long, written in response to a painting by Washington, D.C., artist Matt Sesow, exploring the ancillary effects of war.

"We've started to let our guard down a bit," Shurtz says. "I want to keep the dialogue going."

For the show, Shurtz penned "American Eagle," a piece of magical realism in which a mother prepares an eagle for family dinner.

Brenda Edwards' "Wifedom" interweaves stories of wives from Iraq and Middle America with military spouses.

And Tom Wooler contributed a piece that finds television family the Cleavers ("Leave It to Beaver") debating the war in Iraq.

"I didn't want it to be an antiwar

See WAR, Page 39

[Photo caption:] Selina Cupell plays a dog hovering over an Iraqi corpse (played by Fernando Teson) in rehearsals for a short play by Renee Simms, as part of "Collateral Damage." — Photo by Chris Page

Get Out 38 March 31, 2005

[Page 39] The Arts
WAR — Continued from Page 38

show," Shurtz says, "but I'm sure it has its artistic protest."

Shurtz — who co-founded Playwrights Workshop Theatre and, besides teaching drama at Metro Arts charter school, runs his own Cheap Theatrix company — has a history of creating conceptual collective theater pieces like this one. In 2002, he enlarged an artwork by French painter Balthus and invited five playwrights to write around it.

This time, he scoured historical war paintings before stumbling onto a Web site of Sesow's war-themed paintings. "As soon as I saw them," Shurtz says, "I immediately responded."

Sesow, 38, is a former software engineer for IBM who has established himself as a self-taught painter. He's known both for a childhood accident with a landing airplane that resulted in the amputation of an arm and for colorful, powerful abstract paintings that channel the artist's inner demons and anger.

Sesow says he created "Collateral Damage (Living Hell)" to shine a light on the grief and pain of war.

"The idea," he says, "was a family caught in some bombing campaign."

Coffins are lined up in a corner, and severed arms holding scimitars — a nod to Baghdad's "Hands of Victory" arches — float above. The artist's emotions, he says, are on full display in his exploration of death and suffering.

"I was traveling back from a solo show in Atlanta, and some guy stopped me and asked if I was in the military, if I had just gotten back from Iraq, because I'm missing an arm and my hair is cut short," he says. "As a society, we have a lot of feeling for those who are suffering. I want to give a tribute to the troops."

The painter says he spent a week working on the large-format "Collateral Damage," and that the 8-by-9-foot painting filled the floor of his cramped studio apartment. Sesow says he accepted the almost pro bono commission (Shurtz paid the cost of materials and for Sesow's flight to come to opening night of the show; the piece will go on sale for $2,000 after the show closes) because he's impressed by the artistic boldness of Shurtz and the participating playwrights.

"The historical significance of taking a chance on something like this during a war is pretty ballsy," Sesow says. "Sometimes we like to wait to see how things shake out before we form our opinions on them."

Shurtz expects audiences anticipating an evening of screaming, "Embedded"-style agitprop will be surprised by the varied tone of the plays presented in "Collateral Damage."

One poignant piece comes from Metro Arts humanities teacher Renee Simms, 38, who juxtaposes a news conference asking Americans to stop donating food to military bomb-sniffing dogs with a scene in which an Iraqi family dog, loose in the city after her home was destroyed, contemplates eating a human corpse.

Other plays explore wartime journalists, soldiers assigned to identify bodies and, in Chuck Hinckley's "Chili Cheese Fries," a soldier dealing with his first kill — his interpreter and guide.

Shurtz says bringing the show together has sparked lively debate among cast members, and he hopes discussion continues with audiences. A self-described pacifist, Shurtz says the show has helped him further formulate his own opinions.

"Usually, when I don't know," he says, "I'll do theater to find out."

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MOVIES • DINING • MUSIC • ARTS • CLUBS
MARCH 31 THROUGH APRIL 6 2005
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'Collateral' melds acting, painting, politics
Series of 10-minute plays brings war back into spotlight
ARTS 38

[Page 38]

PLAY PREVIEW
'Collateral Damage'
Where: Metro Arts Institute, 1700 N. Seventh Ave., Phoenix
When: Opens Friday, runs 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday through April 16
How much: $10, $8 for students
Info: (602) 258-4798

Art of war
Playwrights explore politics through painting, acting

By CHRIS PAGE
Get Out

We interrupt the regularly scheduled coverage of the Michael Jackson trial to bring you the following reminder:

There's still a war going on.

Nearly two years after President Bush declared major combat operations over in Iraq, Valley playwright and director Raymond Shurtz is contributing a wartime wake-up call with "Collateral Damage," a theater production staging 10 plays, each 10 minutes long, written in response to a painting by Washington, D.C., artist Matt Sesow, exploring the ancillary effects of war.

"We've started to let our guard down a bit," Shurtz says. "I want to keep the dialogue going."

For the show, Shurtz penned "American Eagle," a piece of magical realism in which a mother prepares an eagle for family dinner.

Brenda Edwards' "Wifedom" interweaves stories of wives from Iraq and Middle America with military spouses.

And Tom Wooler contributed a piece that finds television family the Cleavers ("Leave It to Beaver") debating the war in Iraq.

"I didn't want it to be an antiwar

See WAR, Page 39 ▶

[Photo caption] Selina Cupell plays a dog hovering over an Iraqi corpse (played by Fernando Teson) in rehearsals for a short play by Renee Simms, as part of "Collateral Damage." (Photo by Chris Page)

Get Out 38 March 31, 2005

[Page 39]

The Arts

WAR
▶ Continued from Page 38

show," Shurtz says, "but I'm sure it has its artistic protest."

Shurtz — who co-founded Playwrights Workshop Theatre and, besides teaching drama at Metro Arts charter school, runs his own Cheap Theatrix company — has a history of creating conceptual collective theater pieces like this one. In 2002, he enlarged an artwork by French painter Balthus and invited five playwrights to write around it.

This time, he scoured historical war paintings before stumbling onto a Web site of Sesow's war-themed paintings. "As soon as I saw them," Shurtz says, "I immediately responded."

Sesow, 38, is a former software engineer for IBM who has established himself as a self-taught painter. He's known both for a childhood accident with a landing airplane that resulted in the amputation of an arm and for colorful, powerful abstract paintings that channel the artist's inner demons and anger.

Sesow says he created "Collateral Damage (Living Hell)" to shine a light on the grief and pain of war.

"The idea," he says, "was a family caught in some bombing campaign."

Coffins are lined up in a corner, and severed arms holding scimitars — a nod to Baghdad's "Hands of Victory" arches — float above. The artist's emotions, he says, are on full display in his exploration of death and suffering.

"I was traveling back from a solo show in Atlanta, and some guy stopped me and asked if I was in the military, if I had just gotten back from Iraq, because I'm missing an arm and my hair is cut short," he says. "As a society, we have a lot of feeling for those who are suffering. I want to give a tribute to the troops."

The painter says he spent a week working on the large-format "Collateral Damage," and that the 8-by-9-foot painting filled the floor of his cramped studio apartment. Sesow says he accepted the almost pro bono commission (Shurtz paid the cost of materials and for Sesow's flight to come to opening night of the show; the piece will go on sale for $2,000 after the show closes) because he's impressed by the artistic boldness of Shurtz and the participating playwrights.

"The historical significance of taking a chance on something like this during a war is pretty ballsy," Sesow says. "Sometimes we like to wait to see how things shake out before we form our opinions on them."

Shurtz expects audiences anticipating an evening of screaming, "Embedded"-style agitprop will be surprised by the varied tone of the plays presented in "Collateral Damage."

One poignant piece comes from Metro Arts humanities teacher Renee Simms, 38, who juxtaposes a news conference asking Americans to stop donating food to military bomb-sniffing dogs with a scene in which an Iraqi family dog, loose in the city after her home was destroyed, contemplates eating a human corpse.

Other plays explore wartime journalists, soldiers assigned to identify bodies and, in Chuck Hinckley's "Chili Cheese Fries," a soldier dealing with his first kill — his interpreter and guide.

Shurtz says bringing the show together has sparked lively debate among cast members, and he hopes discussion continues with audiences. A self-described pacifist, Shurtz says the show has helped him further formulate his own opinions.

"Usually, when I don't know," he says, "I'll do theater to find out."

[Painting page, The Arts] Chaos prevails, with a hint of Munch's "The Scream," in Washington D.C. painter Matt Sesow's "Collateral Damage (A Living Hell)" (acrylic on canvas, 2005), which forms the basis — and title — of Raymond Shurtz's latest collaborative theater project. (Courtesy of Matt Sesow)

The Arts

Chaos prevails, with a hint of Munch's "The Scream," in Washington D.C. painter Matt Sesow's "Collateral Damage (A Living Hell)" (acrylic on canvas, 2005), which forms the basis — and title — of Raymond Shurtz's latest collaborative theater project.

Courtesy of Matt Sesow