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 Friday, March 2, 2007

Every soldier that ever tells a war story tells a lie. And those who say nothing tell the absolute truth."

For Kenny Carnes, the explanation of such a puzzling comment is really quite simple. Those who have truly experienced the gruesome horrors of war know there can be no true depiction of what it feels like to have a bullet zing past your ear or to see lifeless bodies on a battlefield.

Soldiers cope with what they have seen by sensationalizing their realities into stories of heroism and bravery, Mr. Carnes said. Although bravery is an admirable characteristic, the truthful soldier knows in his heart that there is no mortal way to convey the sense of depravity and heartlessness brought on by warfare.

A writer, performer and Army veteran, Mr. Carnes said he believes there is more to learn from one soldier who says nothing than from 100 who tell stories.

Mr. Carnes’ message of the destruction caused by violence was revealed in his one-man show, "War/Peace and the Anatomy of Being Human," at Anna Maria College in Paxton Tuesday.

Through a vibrant, unforgettable performance, Mr. Carnes showed that the visual remnants of violence are not the only side effects of war. The emotional and psychological trauma of those who have fought in war is too often forgotten, he said. While a body may be physically healed, the toll that violence and war takes on a human mind takes much longer to heal.

The show gave a heartfelt and true rendition of humanity by combining a commanding style of poetry with prose to tackle such questions as: What do we do with violence and what does violence really mean to those who have experienced it firsthand?

Mr. Carnes adeptly portrayed an array of characters, which the audience saw both on the battlefield and at home after the war. Each soldier was profoundly affected by what he saw at war, and the audience got to peer into the lives of the broken men, which had become shells of what they once were.

Although all the characters are from Mr. Carnes’ imagination, there is a hint of reality in them, he said.

"You will find that these could be our neighbors very easily. These are people we’ve seen on the news. It’s an original work of fiction, but so true to life," Mr. Carnes told the audience.

Kenny Carnes performs his one-man show, "War/Peace and the Anatomy of Being Human," at Anna Maria College in Paxton Tuesday. (T&G Staff/PAUL KAPTEYN)

It is because the characters are so true to life that the show has an eerie quality and might forever change the way one looks at soldiers.

Mr. Carnes’ 10 years of military experience as an officer gave him the understanding to capture the emotions of the characters, such as the young Southern soldier who watched his friend Beyer die on the battlefield, or the man from Brooklyn who became a soldier after losing his fiancée on 9-11. The Brooklyn man’s haunting lament, "I watched Innocence die," spoke of both his fiancée, whose name was Innocence, and the innocence of America.

With a rap-like quality, Mr. Carnes transitioned from one story to the next without missing a beat, presenting crushed soldiers, overwhelmed by the effects of "psychological shrapnel" and the voices of their dead comrades ringing in their heads and calling out for remembrance.

Mr. Carnes’ said his intention in the performance was to "use it as a way to create awareness around the topical issues and to enlighten people who have never been in the military to what it’s like to serve in the military, and what duty really means."

In 2003, Mr. Carnes said, he made the decision to leave the Rhode Island Army National Guard because he felt the Iraq conflict was not his fight and there were other ways he could serve. After seeing friends and family members sent to Iraq, he decided he would tell their stories.

"Instead of going into the theater of war, I decided to go into the theater," Mr. Carnes said.

His gripping performance provoked questions that do not seem to have answers.

Although it took a year to develop the lives and experiences of his tragic, yet genuine, characters, Mr. Carnes said it took him only four to five months to pen the script. The struggles of his characters are mirrored in his captivating style of rhyme. Mr. Carnes said he used the rhymes to capture the "polarity of the country" that was present in 2003. "I thought poetics was a good way to synthesize that duality."

What made his show refreshingly different from others that seek to portray similar ideas is Mr. Carnes’ unwillingness to use the theater as a forum to present his own political views. His intent was to present a paradox between the common, simple stories and the universal ones that speak to everyone.

"I find that people come with their own agenda and what to expect, whether that’s a speaker who is against the war or someone who focuses on being pro-soldier, pro-troops. But what I find is, when people leave they find a whole different meaning from it," he said.

After hearing lines such as "ashes to ashes and dust to disgust" and "life is a war: you’re either with it or against it," one understands why Mr. Carnes believes it is more difficult to watch the show than to perform it. The truth has never been easy to hear.

Mr. Carnes presents his show as more than just the journey of a soldier; it is the journey of everyone. It’s a difficult journey, full of bumpy roads and mortar shells, but in the end "we’re all in this together," Mr. Carnes said. "We’re all human beings."

© 2007 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp.