Religion of war

Gospel According to First Squad, currently being staged by UC Davis’ Department of Theatre and Dance, is a raw and emotional look at a squad of soldiers, awaiting deployment home, while stationed at an outpost in the Korangal Valley in Afghanistan. The soldiers are testosterone driven and sex starved. Accordingly, tempers flare, yet we see the care the soldiers have for each other when painful news comes from home. Playwright Tom Burmester and director Danika Sudik have created a powerful look at what it’s really like to be fighting one of this country’s wars. The script is based on interviews conducted with soldiers who saw combat in Afghanistan.