The Vail Series presents 'Arms Around America'

Arms Around America is an evening of six short radio plays based on oral histories of families whose lives have been shaped by guns, from across the geographic, racial, political, and generational spectrum, performed with four actors voice dozens of memorable characters, accompanied by a propulsive 3-piece band, and a “Foley” artist creating live sound effects. 

Arms Around America spent several years conducting book-length oral histories of families in South Florida, Western Montana and Southern California. We then wrote audio dramas based on those stories, which have one iteration as a podcast, and a second iteration as a live show. 

By opening a window into these families’ lives, we explore diverse perspectives and foster dialogue around the complex roles that guns play in our society. We hope that this project can help us all learn how to maintain each other’s humanity when discussing divisive topics. 

Arms Around America received a National Theater Project Grant from New England Foundation for the Arts, and commissions from the National Performance Network and UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance. The Arms Around America podcast launched in June 2024, and premiered on stage in November 2024 at The Nimoy Theater in Los Angeles, with subsequent national touring.

Arms Around America is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by The Myrna Loy, Miami Light Project, UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance, and NPN. The Creation & Development Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information: npnweb.org. This program is made possible with funding by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Theater Project, with lead funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and additional support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and by grants from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture. Arms Around America is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, and by UCLA’s Office for Research & Creative Activities (ORCA) and the Chancellor’s Council on the Arts (CCOA) through The Chancellor’s Arts Initiative.  

DENISON COMMUNITY TICKETS 

Tickets are free for Denison students, faculty, and staff. 

PUBLIC TICKETS 

We share these experiences with our larger community by making a limited number of tickets available for public sale on a first come, first served basis at $20 each. 

___ 

The Vail Series was endowed in 1979 by a generous gift from the late Mary and Foster McGaw in honor of Jeanne Vail, class of 1946. Just as it was intended to do, the Series enriches the artistic experience of the entire Denison community. Programmed creatively with the mindful pursuit of learning across traditional academic boundaries, more than 100 individual Vail Series artists have found their way to Denison’s classrooms and stages, but that doesn’t include the dozens of ensembles or full symphony orchestras that have played here over the years.