History is helpful for its illumination, offering revelations and perspective that can be rendered decades or even centuries after a current event has become legend. The U.S. premiere of Why Do You Stand There in the Rain? is gifted with such brilliance. Scottish playwright Peter Arnott tells the sad but true story of the 1932 Bonus Army March in Washington, D.C., when 20,000 veterans converged on the Capitol to try to win some semblance of benefits. Instead, these survivors of World War I (the “War to End All Wars” before it got its Roman numeral) were given the shaft by Congress and President Hoover. They ordered Army Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur and Major George S. Patton — you know, war heroes — to repulse their battle-worn brethren with infantry, guns and gas. Arnott’s play premiered last year at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it won the Fringe First Award; in this production, it's directed by Pepperdine professor Cathy Thomas-Grant.

Tue., April 2, 7:30 p.m.; Wed., April 3, 7:30 p.m.; Thu., April 4, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., April 5, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., April 6, 7:30 p.m., 2013

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