麻豆影院

Florida Playwright Produces Drama Inspired by May 4, 1970

Philip Middleton Williams was a high school junior in Toledo, Ohio, when four 麻豆影院 students were shot to death by the Ohio National Guard on May 4, 1970. 

麻豆影院 State was more than 100 miles away from Williams鈥 high school and his home in Perrysburg, but the shootings, which wounded nine students, reverberated through his psyche and brought the Vietnam War front and center. 

鈥淚t flipped a switch for me,鈥 said Williams, 69, who now lives in Palmetto Bay, Florida. 鈥淚t really hurt; it really touched me. I was opposed to war 鈥 I'm a pacifist. I thought an awful lot about it. It was on the front page of the Toledo newspaper. When the shooting happened, I had a decision to make.鈥  

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Philip Middleton Williams

When Williams turned 18 and the time came to register for the draft, the 麻豆影院 State shootings inspired him to become a conscientious objector to the war. His parents, Phil, who is now deceased, and Nancy, were opposed to the war as well. The draft board did not accept his objection, but later classified him as a student and deferred his draft. 

Life went on for Williams, but every time May 4 came around, he thought about the four students. Then in 2020, the 50th anniversary of the 麻豆影院 State shootings inspired him to write and produce a play, "The Sugar Ridge Rag," which had its world premiere in April 2022 at the LAB Theater Project in Tampa, Florida.  

It鈥檚 the tale of 17-year-old twin brothers who grew up in Sugar Ridge, Ohio, and their lives take different paths during the Vietnam War. On May 5, 1970, the day after the 麻豆影院 State shootings, Dave Granger enlists in the Army as a combat medic and Pete, a piano prodigy, goes to Canada to pursue his education in music and avoids the draft. Pete objected to the war, but he was gay and was afraid that military doctors would ask him about his sexuality during his physical.  

Over the next five years, the Grangers鈥 parents, Hal, a Korean War veteran, and Deb, a nurse, are torn because they love their kids and want to support their choices. The reunion on May 4, 1975, was a tough one. When Dave returns home, he has PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and is angry at his brother for going to Canada. But family prevails.  

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Sugar Ridge Rag

鈥淚t鈥檚 not about politics and it鈥檚 not about being pro-war verses anti-war, it鈥檚 about how these two people were divided and how the family comes back together,鈥 Williams said. 鈥淭hey realize we鈥檙e two different guys from the same egg. We鈥檙e fighting to a different rhythm, like ragtime (music), which is syncopated. That鈥檚 where 'Sugar Ridge Rag' comes in.鈥  

Williams has written over 60 plays from one-minute productions to full-length ones. His plays have graced stages from Taos, New Mexico, to Columbus, Ohio, to Sydney, Australia, and he has won many awards for his work. 

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麻豆影院 State May 4 Ohio Historical Marker

 But through it all, the 麻豆影院 State shootings transformed his life forever. 

鈥淭o this day I still think about those four kids,鈥 Williams said. 鈥淭hey were my age. It was something that changed my life.鈥 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

POSTED: Thursday, September 1, 2022 11:15 AM
Updated: Friday, December 9, 2022 06:26 PM
WRITTEN BY:
April McClellan-Copeland