'They Call Me a Terrorist'

Christi Cruz, an actress with Living Voices, often thinks about the letter she received from a California student who attended a performance of Within the Silence.

"Thanks for doing this show," the student wrote. "Maybe my friends will look at me differently. After September 11, they call me the daughter of Osama bin Laden; they call me a terrorist."

This reaction is typical for the plays that Living Voices offers on topics ranging from the Japanese American experience in World War II to contemporary struggles of Mexican American farm workers. The Seattle-based theater company's work receives moving reviews from teachers, federal judges, juvenile inmates and people who experienced the events portrayed.

Rachael and Michael McClinton founded Living Voices in 1991 to focus on major events in American history they "feel need a light shined on them," Michael McClinton says.

Their first play, Through the Eyes of a Friend, told the Anne Frank story. Rachael McClinton was their sole actor. But teachers started asking, "What's next?" And soon, McClinton says, "the program was leap-frogging around the country."

Living Voices produces a dramatic video that each performer interacts with during the play.

"We want the students to be able to engage that character in a discussion after the play," Rachael McClinton says. "Our actors aren't really learning a performance; they are learning a curriculum."

Scriptwriter Rachel Atkins typically spends six months to a year researching and writing a play. She then works with actors on the teaching aspects, including how to lead follow-up discussions.

"We emphasize that is it important to acknowledge different points of view about any subject," Atkins says. "We also want to create a safe environment for dialogue, where anyone is able to express their thoughts and be treated with respect."

In the end, "We're there to create a historical perspective with the idea that each person needs to look inside themselves and ask, 'Who could be scapegoated today?'" McClinton says. "History doesn't repeat itself. People repeat history."