TrendsonTwitter.com

What happens when a soldier comes back from combat is the subject of Emily Ackerman and K.J. Sanchez’s play “ReEntry,” now playing at Urban Stages.

The show, which premiered last year at two River Theater in new Jersey, is culled from interviews with over 100 people — wives, mothers, siblings, military officials — who talk about what it means for them or their loved ones to return from service.

Joseph C. Harrell, a former Marine drill instructor, was brought on board to put the cast through a rigorous training program that in many ways matched the traditional boot camp experience. mr. Harrell, 36, also performs in the show.

During a break from his studies as a business management student at Rutgers University, mr. Harrell talked about going from combat zone to the comforts of home, and what Marines and actors have in common. Following are excerpts from his conversation.

Describe the show in your own words.

It’s about the reentry process that a combat veteran or a military person goes through when they are trying to acclimate back to society, or are being reintroduced to their families or the workforce.

The show takes real stories from real people and they talk about the stuff that nobody else would want them to talk about. It takes the mother and sisters’ point of view, when dealing with a son who has post-traumatic stress disorder, or who feels guilt about what they did or saw.

What have military families said about the show?

When my neighbor’s son came back from Iraq, she put up a sign on the front of the house and invited some people over. But when he got home he tore the banner down, and wanted to be locked inside his room. when she came to see the show she said, “I wish I’d seen this sooner. Maybe I would have had more guidance about how to relate to my son.”

What were rehearsals like? Was it similar in any way to real military training?

I can be in public and can see by the way someone talks or walks that they were probably a Marine at one point in their life. There’s a rigidity and a harshness, a rawness about the Marine’s gait, and how he carries himself. It was important that the cast had that.

For about an hour and a half I would take the cast and we would do group runs, martial arts training, marching, like you would in boot camp. if you’ve seen the movie “Full Metal Jacket,” that pretty much what happened to the cast at every rehearsal. I put pressure and stress on them to feel what it’s like to be a Marine.

I’ve had people come up to the actors after the show and ask them when they served.

How did they feel about that? Were they comfortable with such a rigorous workout?

If you took a combat Marine who’s never been to a play, and you threw him into the cast of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” he might think it’s the weirdest thing. That’s what it’s like to throw an actor who’s never been into combat into a training situation. Bringing the two together, to talk about what they do and how they do it, was really important.

I was in rehearsal, and it was a moment that I can’t forget. I was thinking how annoying the rehearsal process is. I looked at the actors and thought, there are some Marines I know who can’t handle this. It’s just too much rejection. That’s when I developed respect for theater actors. They have so much tenacity, and that’s what I strive for.

I would imagine the experience was one that many actors had never gone through before.

One of the key things was to make their life stressful. I had them say “no sir” and “yes sir” as loud as they could at the top of their lungs. They trusted me. They were willing to do it.

When you see this show you will see that we are a family. we are a tight unit.

“ReEntry” runs through March 7 at Urban Stages. More information is at the Urban Stages Web site.