Not Too Far Distant Connects Veterans and Communities

“Your story matters, and it’s OK if it’s hard to tell. You tell it because it’s important.”

BLIXT ARTS LAB playwright Becky Boesen shares that message from Not Too Far Distant, her play about a Nebraska veteran’s experiences in World War II. 

The stories in the play are just the beginning. They’re a catalyst to unite communities, heal wounds, and find freedom. And this power is impacting veterans and civilians alike all around the state, thanks to a Creative Forces Community Engagement grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and managed by the Mid-America Arts Alliance (M-AAA).

It all started with a few letters home.

Staff sergeant Clarence Williams left his family in Nebraska to serve as a medic in the European Theater of World War II. Clarence arrived in Europe with a full-sized camera, and he wrote a letter to his wife Gretchen every day.

In later years, Clarence’s correspondence and photos stayed tucked away until a chance encounter. Clarence’s son, Dr. Tom Williams, former chief medical officer and director of the Division of Public Health for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, sold a house to Dr. Beth Dotan, Research Assistant Professor at the Harris Center for Judaic Studies at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Beth’s dissertation was the creation of a digital humanities project, Nebraska Stories of Humanity: Holocaust Survivors and World War II Veterans. This online portal of letters, recordings, and photos focuses on Nebraska Holocaust survivors and liberators.

Clarence had been part of a group that stumbled upon and liberated the Dachau concentration camp. 

Tom mentioned this, and was happy to provide his dad’s letters and photos for Beth’s project. And when she reached out to Nebraska Wesleyan’s theatre department in search of students to read some of the letters for the portal, Becky was there in her role as theatre professor.

“I hope I was smiling and nodding in this meeting, but I was thinking, ‘No! This is a play!’” Becky says. “With all that’s going on in the world and having all this material with Nebraska ties, I was hoping there was room to explore doing something more.”

Staff Sergeant Clarence Williams left his family in Nebraska to serve as a medic in the European Theater of World War II. Pictured: Production shot from Not Too Far Distant by Becky Boesen and produced by BLIXT. Photo by Jenny Gegg Photography.

Soon, multiple partners were behind the idea of a play combined with a community curriculum. Nebraska State Historical Society commissioned Not Too Far Distant in collaboration with BLIXT ARTS LAB, Humanities Nebraska, Lied Center for Performing Arts, Civic Nebraska, Institute for Holocaust Education, History Nebraska Foundation, Nebraska Stories of Humanity, Greater Nebraska Communities, and Nebraskan Veterans. 

That’s a lot of partners, all looking for a dynamite script. As a playwright, Becky struggled to wrap her head around the most effective way to tell Clarence’s story, engage audiences, and make a larger impact. 

“A lot of my work centers around community belonging,” Becky says. “Any time we’ve had the opportunity to connect with Nebraska veterans, I realized the challenges they often face when returning to their community. By sharing his story through letters, Clarence invites others to share theirs as well.”

It was an amazing performance opportunity, but also an opening to make space for veterans of rural Nebraska to connect more deeply with their communities.

The show itself highlights 14 of Clarence’s letters, and tells the story as if older Clarence were talking to young students. Audiences see the students transform into his platoon and become part of the story. 

Not Too Far Distant premiered at the Jewish Community Center in Omaha in the fall of 2022. Word spread quickly.

“We were going to three communities as a starting point, then we learned that the play resonated with vets and also families of people who had been in the Holocaust,” says Petra, who served as the show’s project manager and tour director. “I knew this was something very special because not every project has this kind of attraction where people are clamoring for it.”

That’s where the NEA and M-AAA came in. The Creative Forces grant allowed the team to take Not Too Far Distant around the state, including to communities that were new for BLIXT. Towns of all sizes across the state—from Nebraska City to Sidney and more—are hosting the program.

After all, every community is a veteran community.

The producers of Not Too Far Distant partner with veteran and educational groups in each town. Well in advance of each performance, they collaborate on curricula and outreach that will best serve the needs of the community. 

Not Too Far Distant is touring Nebraska in 2024 and 2025. Photo by Jenny Gegg Photography.

“One of our strong values at BLIXT is doing with instead of doing to,” Becky says. “We never know more about a community than it knows about itself.”

Programming has included writing workshops for seniors, community listening sessions, exhibits of local military letters and uniforms, and an in-service day for Nebraska educators learning about resources for Holocaust education in our state, and many performances specifically for middle and high schools.

“I had this misguided thought that younger people would be more numb to violence, but I was shocked by how moved they were by the play,” Petra says. “It’s been amazing to have conversations with the younger generation.”

Feedback has been overwhelming and positive. And transformational, deeply personal moments at the show demonstrate just how powerful Not Too Far Distant is. Veterans have shared stories they’d never told anyone. Community members have grown in empathy. One grandmother even reported that the program helped her better understand her grandson, who served in Afghanistan. 

The Creative Forces grant helped make it possible.

“Creative Forces has made the project exceptionally accessible for Nebraska communities,” Becky says. “It’s also fueled our fire as an incubator for the arts to learn more, to make what is somewhat invisible in Nebraska more visible, and that’s a large veteran population throughout our rural state.”

In working with veterans’ groups, the team has learned that many younger veterans don’t take advantage of the support and services available to them or don’t realize the resources exist. Becky and Petra hope that BLIXT can become a connector to these younger veterans, like Creative Forces has been a connector for BLIXT.

“Thanks to Creative Forces, we feel like we have access to experts, and we’re connected to people in other states,” Petra says. “It’s been fantastic knowing that we’re not alone in this work.”

They’re also paying it forward, making sure veterans’ programs they partner with in the towns hosting Not Too Far Distant know about Creative Forces. 

“As an experienced grantee, we’ve been able to say, ‘You should consider a Creative Forces grant for your project and your community,’” Becky says. “Many people didn’t realize this resource was available, and that it provides freedom to make your project distinctly local.

“There’s possibility and power in working with Creative Forces. In the Midwest, people are bashful and don’t always take risks. But you can really try innovative things about connecting with your local veterans.”

Not Too Far Distant is touring Nebraska in 2024 and 2025. See upcoming locations and dates.

The Creative Forces Community Engagement Grant is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in partnership with Mid-America Arts Alliance (M-AAA). For more information, visit the Creative Forces National Resource Center.

Grant applications for the next round of Creative Forces Community Engagement grants close January 15, 2025. Learn more about eligibility and guidelines.

Header photography: Production shot from Not Too Far Distant by Becky Boesen, produced by BLIXT Arts Lab. Photo by Jenny Gegg Photography.