The Theatre of War in Dogfight

By Cage Evinger and Isabelle Veloz

This November, the Purchase Student Thespian Society (PSTS) debuted its fall musical, "Dogfight," in the Center for Media, Film, and Theatre (CMFT) Performance Studio.

Based on the 1991 film "Dogfight," written by Peter Duncan, with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, tells the story of a young man, Eddie Birdlace, who has recently returned from the Vietnam War and is visiting San Francisco, as he battles his demons. While Eddie visits San Francisco, he is reminded of the time he and his other military friends shared on their last night before being sent off to Vietnam. The times may have changed, but his memories remain. 

Eddie Birdlace (Ryan Spencer Daniels) sitting on a bus set for San Francisco questioning what has brought him back (Photo by Cage Evinger)

The Purchase Student Thespian Society was established in August 2024 to provide theater opportunities for students, by students, at SUNY Purchase. Their first show, Into the Woods, premiered in April 2025 in Southside.

With this performance, similar to Into the Woods, the show features a double cast, in which certain characters are played by different actors during different performances, giving every student performer a chance to be involved. 

"I've loved this musical for a really long time, and it's been on my list of favorite musicals and dream roles for years," Olivia Summer, a junior theater and performance major, who played Rose, the main lead and love interest of the musical. "So, when I found out that we were doing it with this club last year, I was like, 'I have to do it.'" 

Summer continues, saying, "I worked really hard and put in a lot of time and more blood, sweat, and tears than I should have into Rose. But I'm very proud of her, and I think that it paid off."

Eddie Birdlace (Ryan Spencer Daniels) gazing at Rose (Olivia Summer) as she tells him of her dreams (Photo by Cage Evinger)

Dylan Harrer, a junior theater and performance major, plays Bernstein, a friend of Eddie's, and speaks similarly, "Before getting on stage, I try to sink my feet into the earth to really connect to my character and connect to how my character works. I know the whole story, but my character doesn't know the whole story, so I'm trying to show that in real time." 

Harrer continues, "I actually do see myself a lot in Bernstein; Bernstein's a spazz and very impressionable; he's just trying to impress everybody. The evils he commits because of the situation he's in as a child who's about to be sent to war were very hard to navigate, but it was fun to navigate."

Lydia Harada, a senior communications major who came out to see the show, says, "I thought that Thomas, the director, did an absolutely fantastic job; the staging was great."

Summer adds, "I feel great, it was opening night for me and there were a couple of small things that went wrong because that's usually what happens on opening, but I think overall it went really well and I had a lot of fun.

Bernstein (Dylan Harrer) screaming into the void (Photo by Cage Evinger)

"I thought that the show, the production, was really good. All the extras were really good. I thought this was a big improvement in terms of production quality over last semester's show," shared Steven Estrada, an audience member.

Emile Regnier-Kline, a sophomore, theatre and performance major, says, "I think the actors did really well; they sing really well. I'm not sure about the plot of the actual musical. I wish the female characters were in it more."

Regnier-Kline continues, saying, "This is the first time I'm seeing it: I'm showing up for my friends, and because I like musicals." While the opinions on the musical itself may differ, the show was able to bring people together, regardless. 

Dylan Harrer adds, finally, that "I was very excited to perform because the show has such a juxtaposition from when we're all out having fun and thinking that we're all going to be celebrated for our time in Vietnam, and everyone lying to us saying we're going to be hailed as heroes when we come home, and then we realize the evils of everything."