A multimedia show at BAM gives a human face to America’s longest war

Other than those who have served in the military and those who have loved them, few of us understand the human toll that war takes not just on the battlefield but on the home front. Basetrack One-Eight was a website created in 2010 by photojournalists embedded in the 1st Battalion/8th Marines that transmitted images and reports from southern Afghanistan and allowed Marines to stay in touch with family and friends back home during their deployment. En Garde Arts’ production of BASETRACK Live, now making its New York premiere as part of the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s 2014 Next Wave Festival, may bring the rest of us as close to understanding the devastating effects of war as any theatrical piece can. Combining live music, projections of interviews with Marines, and a two-character dramatization of a couple struggling with the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder, BASETRACK Live begins with a musical overture reminiscent of Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” and with images of Marines as they are interviewed about their experiences in Afghanistan. The outstanding musical group includes Trevor Exter on cello, Kenneth Rodriguez on trumpet, Melanie “Mazz” Swift on violin, and Daniele Cavalca on percussion and keyboards.