The new play “War Dreamer” is taking the stage this month at The Wild Project in Manhattan. But it first found its footing inside a Brooklyn apartment known as the Loading Dock Theater, taking its audience from a living room to a Humvee in Iraq.
The play centers on a United States veteran who’s returned from Iraq and is struggling with war trauma, ultimately spiraling into paranoia and conspiracy theories. It was the brainchild of Steven Gridley, who wrote and workshopped the play during the pandemic with his partner and star of the show, Erin Treadway. It found its voice on the fully designed set in their own Downtown Brooklyn apartment.
From the moment Treadway took the stage during a mid-February rehearsal, the kitchen at stage left seemed to fade as the theatrical lighting shone on stage. The living room and bedroom, located through a doorway behind the audience, suddenly seemed miles away.
