Challenged Athletes Foundation
What Happens Next
In 2016 La Jolla Playhouse invited Cornerstone to San Diego to help connect with the local community of veterans. Working in collaboration with the Challenged Athletes Foundations’s Operation Rebound, Cornerstone created a powerful play about the experiences of veterans and the challenges they faced re-entering civilian life. Written by award-winning playwright Naomi Iizuka and directed by Cornerstone’s Artistic Director Michael John Garcés, What Happens Next was performed at the Challenged Athletes Foundation for an audience of veterans, their families and the general public.
About the play:
In What Happens Next, Bonnie, an idealistic but inexperienced acting teacher, finds herself paired with a group of veterans as part of a drama therapy program. As she is confronted with the reality of her reluctant new students, Bonnie struggles to find a way to build trust and find common ground. Inspired by stories shared by the military community, this riveting new play mixes professional actors and San Diego veterans in an exploration of the complexities of sacrifice and resilience of those who have served.
Read about this project in the San Diego Union-Tribune,