Horror of War & Power of Friendship Explored in Wilma Play

In "The Body of an American," the brutal murder of an American soldier in Somalia twenty years ago becomes the genesis of a friendship between a war photographer and a playwright. In this dense two-hander, actor Ian Merrill Peakes co-stars with Harry Smith. In this interview, Peakes talks about the play.

Actor Ian Merrill Peakes is an actor with considerable range. He's shown himself to be just as believable playing an ardent lover in Chekhov's "Three Sisters" or a greedy monk selling sainted body parts in "Incorruptible." Later this year, though, he takes on one of the most revered roles in the Shakespeare cannon: Macbeth at the Arden Theater. But prior to that Peakes is digging into a number of roles in Dan O'Brien's 2012 drama "The Body of An American" currently at the Wilma Theater, in its second US production.

O'Brien constructs the play as an autobiographical docu-drama in its depiction of the events of an American soldier, William David Cleveland, whose mutilated body was being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu in 1993. The incident was photographed by a Canadian journalist Paul Watson, who was covering the civil war in Somalia for the Toronto Star. The picture appeared on front pages around the world and, later, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. It was an indelible document of the desecration of an American soldier and had the power to influence US military policy. But the photo was also used as an anti-US propaganda tool by terrorist groups - a tragic, ugly irony for an image meant to illustrate a human rights violation.

In 2007, Watson talked about his experience to Terry Gross on her NPR show "Fresh Air" in which he said he believes that when he took the photograph he heard the soldier say, "If you do this, I will own you forever." Playwright O'Brien heard the NPR broadcast and contacted Watson via email and they started an online correspondence and eventually met in the Arctic Circle. The play explores their friendship vis-�-vis the events surrounding Watson's traumatic memories as a wartime photojournalist.

Co-starring with Peakes is Cambridge-trained actor Harry Smith. At various points they each play both Watson and O'Brien, the photographer and playwright, as well as over twenty other roles.

A week before the opening Peakes decompressed in Wilma Theater lobby between rehearsals where he talked about the production. "Any time you do a two-character play you have to love that person and trust that person. Harry actually has more characters to handle than I do. And he has a really charming British accent that he doesn't get to use in any of the roles he plays in this piece," Peakes said.

That accent was in evidence when the actors appeared two years ago in Oscar Wilde's "An Ideal Husband" at the Walnut Street Theater; but they didn't have a scene together in that production. "Only drinks later," Peakes recalled as he looked over the first production shots from their current endeavor. "Look how cute Harry is," Peakes jokes pointed out one photo. "What an adorable man."

The play brings to light the dangers and long-term effects of journalists and photographers in wartime and the risks of all journalists take when covering war zones. Peakes said he immediately connected to the power of the play and O'Brien's writing.

"It's so foreign to me to imagine myself as a person, like Paul, who would run to a war zone. But to inhabit that person for a while is thrilling as an actor. Now I know that a war zone is not for me. Paul's suffering PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and he's suffered tremendously. He even believed there was a connection to 9/11 that starts from this photograph," Peakes adds. "bin Laden and al Qaeda saw how they could use those images in their own propaganda."

Peakes' mother is a professional photographer, which made him aware of the art and journalistic impact of photojournalism from a young age. He recalled being stunned at the famous Vietnam War photo of a prisoner about to be shot during the Tet Offensive. "I realized even then, that this photographer was a world witness, a journalist and a storyteller. It tells an ugly truth that is part of the world."

"The whole reason Paul Watson got this picture in Mogadishu is because a week before he saw another Black Hawk helicopter go down, but officially, the Pentagon denied this happened. "So he made sure that he went back to get a photograph to show the world and say: this is what is happening here and we have to do something," Peakes explained.

Peakes said the unconventional structure of the play challenges him as an actor to portray a "man who is trying to hold in so much rage and sorrow and fear and anger. A suppressed set of emotions. He survives by keeping them locked away." Peakes credits director Michael John Graces for creating a supportive creative environment to realize the power of this play. "He makes it always about pushing the story and dramatic honesty," Peakes said.

"The Body of an American" runs through Feb 1 at the Wilma Theater, Broad and Spruce St. Philadelphia. For performance dates and connected events check www.wilmatheater.org or call 215-546-7824