Thirty years after four Kent State students were shot down on their campus, the wounds are still with us. Ohio State’s theater department will attempt to help students understand the turbulent Vietnam War era with presentations of the controversial, in-your-face rock musical “Viet Rock.”Debuting in Columbus on Wednesday and playing through May 20 at the Ray Bowen Theatre in Drake Union, this first-ever rock musical is an improvisational work inspired by 1966 newspaper headlines. A select group of actors under the direction of Megan Terry, who is hailed as the mother of feminist drama, have created a musical which demands its actors to be both physical, popping out from places all over the theater, and talented, able to change from a baby to a drafted officer as a scene unfolds on stage.Joy Reilly, an OSU theater professor, chose the play based on its timeliness and its ability to transport the audience to the tumultuous Vietnam War era. “I was involved in this era, working in Frankfurt and dating Americans who were being shipped off and when they came back they were destroyed,” Reilly said. “When I picked up this piece, I couldn’t put it down. It was very interesting. . .a very personal kind of memory.”In 1966, when Terry created the play, it was only permitted to run in certain theaters due to its antiwar sentiments, which weren’t popular until the 1970s.”‘Viet Rock’ in the ’60s and ’70s was very controversial because it criticized through satire, the U.S. participation in Vietnam,” she said.Reilly said that during the spring of 1970, just before the May 4 Kent State shootings, the play was performed in Cleveland. The performance at OSU on Wednesday will honor and remember those lost.The 24 cast members, all OSU undergraduates studying subjects ranging from dance to engineering, were required to do some in-depth research on the Vietnam War era as well as research on the types of characters they are portraying.”I didn’t know anything about Vietnam,” said Quinn Carlson, a first-year theater major who was cast as a soldier. “I read two books and watched ‘Full Metal Jacket’ and ‘Platoon’ to prepare.” Cast members are required to be not only U.S. draftees and enemy Viet Cong, but also objects – airplanes, bombs and a pile of bodies – which the ensemble must work together to create.Part of what makes the musical so provocative is the perspective from which the story is told.”The female point of view is very present in this piece,” Reilly said. “It had never even been considered before.”Female characters must play the role of mothers to enlisted men, and later, portray the woman Viet Cong soldier who kills the son she gave birth to 19 years before. The story gives the audience a feel for what women went through in this era.”It hits all realms of the Vietnam War,” Carlson said. “It attempts to show the pain and the humor – where you can find humor in war.”The satirical comedy is enhanced by the music from rock group Quanah Parker, made up of current and former OSU students. With new musical arrangements by Brian Granger, a candidate for a master’s degree of fine arts, and a monologue revision to include commentary on Bosnia, Desert Storm and CNN, the musical is carried into the 21st century.”This is very alternative, nontraditional theater,” Reilly said. “It’s entertaining with a lot of food for thought.”Performances start at 8 p.m. with the exception of Wednesday, when it will begin at 7:30 p.m. For tickets contact 292-2295 or go to [email protected].