The Institute, Coming of Age during the Vietnam War, looks at the lives of four young men attending a Catholic military school on the edge of New York’s Greenwich Village during the height of the Vietnam War from 1967 to 1971.
While they begin their high school years as boys, they quickly grow into men as they become increasingly aware of the moral choices they will need to make about the war and how they will respond to it.
Unlike today, the 1960s were a time of mandatory military service in the United States. Every 18-year-old man had to register for the draft and could be called into the armed forces, meaning the possibility of going to Vietnam loomed large in the lives of high school boys as they approached graduation.
While the war overshadows their stories, The Institute is also about a very special place, and the people who made it special and guided its students to become more than they ever would have thought they could be. Traditions and virtue have meaning at The Institute and will shape the men whom these students become.
Originally produced in the Chicago area in 2016 by the 2nd Act Players, this production will take place at the school which inspired the play, author John N. frank’s own high school in New York City, Xavier.
Performances dates: Jan. 25-26, 7:30 p.m.
Location: Xavier High School, 30 W. 16th Street, New York, N.Y.
Coproduced by the 2nd Act Players and Xavier Theatre and Film
Written and Directed By: John N. Frank
Admission is free, donations are encouraged to defray costs. To donate click here.