Award-winning film seeks to shed light on post-traumatic stress disorder among veterans

Writer/Director K. Lorrel Manning’s “Happy New Year” is a lock to raise eyebrows when it screens at this year’s Beaufort International Film Festival. But according to the filmmaker that’s the whole point of the film. Manning’s first full length feature – adapted from his own play – is a frank and often disturbing examination of the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder on American military personnel.

(Editor’s Note: This essay first appeared in Lowcountry Weekly in September of 2008. It has been edited for republication.)

A couple of mornings ago, the phone rang here at my home office, and despite the unfamiliar number on my caller I.D., I picked up.

Remember the good ol’ days when you just answered the phone? I was feeling nostalgic, I guess. Plus, the call was coming from Los Angeles, and Jeff has family and friends out that way, so I thought maybe, just maybe, the call was legit.

Tony Award winning theatre company to bring The Comedy of Errors to Hilton Head.

America’s foremost touring repertory company is bringing Shakespeare to the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina March 2, marking the first time a play by the literary icon has been staged in the Elizabeth Wallace Theatre.

Mardi Gras is forty-seven days before Easter, and this year Fat Tuesday falls on February 21st. The people of New Orleans are planning a grand celebration! Let's join in the fun right here in Beaufort.