Guthrie Theatre Screens DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL Film, 10/15

The Guthrie Theater announced today that it will offer two free screenings of the Vuguru film Don't Ask, Don't Tell on Saturday, October 15 at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. in the Dowling Studio at the Guthrie. Tickets to the event are free and available through the Guthrie Theater Box Office at 612.377.2224 or toll-free 877.44.STAGE.

Based on writer and star Marc Wolf's award-winning one-man play Another American: Asking and Telling, Don't Ask, Don't Tell uses three years of interviews with hundreds of soldiers and veterans, male and female, gay and straight, and transforms them into powerful performances that explore every facet of this hot-button issue.

In the film, Wolf re-enacts, from a first-person perspective, conversations and personal anecdotes ranging from former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Miriam Ben Shalom detailing her discharge from the military; US Navy Officer Al Portes testifying before a congressional hearing that he "will refuse to serve with gays in the military"; a former Marine corporal confiding that the Marine Corps is "rampant with homosexual activity"; Prof. Charles Moskos, the creator of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, justifying its creation; and a mother recounting the life-altering experience of being asked to identify of The Remains of her dead son who was killed by fellow shipmates because he was gay.

"'Don't ask, don't tell' has always been, and will always be about silence," offers Wolf. "In the late '90s, I started interviewing military personnel who were silenced by our federal government because of their sexual orientation, and my goal is to tell their stories to as many people as possible. With the fall of ‘don't ask, don't tell,' this film becomes the story of the struggle to break the silence."

Don't Ask Don't Tell is produced by veteran theater producer Daryl Roth and directed by John C. Walsh. Other key behind-the-scenes participants in the project include Creative Consultant Mary Harron (American Psycho, I Shot Andy Warhol) and Producers Tara Power and Joselyn Allen (DecouPage Productions).

The film has a running time of approximately 86 minutes. To view the film's trailer visit http://vuguru.com/projects/dont-ask-dont-tell