ANTI-WAR PLAY HITS HOME IN SEMINAR

The images were painful and compelling, even in a bare-bones staged reading: a man and woman soldier, under fire, in love and near death. Who is the enemy? What is this war? The only certainty is that it is taking place on American soil.

On Monday, Delle Chatman’s “Sandy and Buddy,” which the playwright described as “a futuristic anti-war statement,” launched “An Anthem to Black Artistry” at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, a weeklong program of professional workshops and performances--of theater, poetry, music and dance.

The Writers’ Workshop--followed on Tuesday by the Directors’ Workshop and Wednesday by the Projects Workshop--brought together about 25 members of the acting and writing community. They viewed Chatman’s one-act (preceded by a stark and sobering black-and-white film strip) and had a lot to say afterward--about both the construction of the work and the racial images presented.

“I wanted to see more” was a common refrain during the lively, hourlong discussion, moderated by director David Kaplan.

Many thought the most intriguing--and repellent--aspect was the play’s closing image of a young girl as murderer.

“It really hit home for me when the child came out,” one man remarked.

“In the past,” added another, “I’ve had trouble with children being thrown into the mire of war. I’m a crusader against war toys. But it’s important that children do know about it--and participate, as did the young actress (Narva McMorris) here.”

Much of the criticism revolved around the super-8 film, a collection of images largely divided among historical footage, war scenes and shots of Third-World starving babies.

“Perhaps you could’ve had the film going during the acting,” offered one man. Another seconded that thought, and suggested that music might work as a continuum, bridging the different forms. Yet workshop coordinator Beryl Jones praised Chatman for her willingness to examine alternate media, “not just work with small things, but put what’s in our consciousness up there. So as a black writer and artist, I appreciated that you grabbed everything you could.”

Well, not quite everything.

“I found the film disturbing, because I didn’t see enough black people in it,” said one man, to a chorus of audience approval.

“There’s no excuse for the film’s (shortage of blacks),” added another. “It’s your responsibility as a black artist: We’re left of out TV, movies, stage. You’ve got to put us in.”

Scolded a third audience member: “And this is Martin Luther King week. . . .”

Chatman was obviously unprepared to defend the film’s racial bias, though she quickly acknowledged, “There are three powerful images you can put on stage: a naked body, a gun, and a black person. So if you do this play with a black man and white woman, or a white man and black woman, or two black people (as it was here, with actors Gregory Allen Chatman and Susanne Stone), each makes a different statement. Yes, race strikes a chord in everyone.

“But for me, the film is a history lesson, a means of transporting an audience from the here and now into the future--which is full of war. We had this beautiful planet and we trashed it. First men fought, then women, then children.” As for the Arizona battle setting: “We’re always fighting our wars somewhere else. I wanted to bring it home, make it co-ed.”

After the workshop, actress Rosie Lee Hooks (who is co-producing the event with Ben Guillory) described the program, opening tonight with a “Kwanzaa” celebration and sampling of works-to-come Friday through Sunday. Included will be “Woza Albert!,” “Paul Robeson,” “Mr. Marshall--Justice,” “When The Chickens Come Home to Roost” and the comedy group Mixxed Nutts.

“Black actors need to be on stage--and there’s a wealth of talent that’s going unused,” Hooks said. “Especially this time of year: Every theater in Los Angeles should be focusing on black culture. So we’re taking existing works and building a show out of that. And we’re doing it with minimum props, sets and costumes. We’re making a way out of no way. We’re going to make it happen.”