Summary

In "We Lived Happily during the War," the speaker describes a war in a faraway place. Citizens protested, "but not enough" (3). As houses elsewhere were bombed, the speaker sat in his bed in America. The bombings were "invisible" (3).

In Act One, "The Townspeople Tell the Story of Sonya and Alfonso," "Gunshot," the townspeople of Vasenka describe the day soldiers occupy their town. Meanwhile, puppeteers, Sonya and Alfonso stage a "puppet show in Central Square" (11). Everyone watches. Then a deaf boy named Petya sneezes. The puppets react. The audience laughs. "An army jeep" arrives, and a Sergeant insists the people "disperse immediately" (11). When Petya keeps laughing, the sergeant yells at him. The puppets imitate the scene. The Sergeant shoots Petya.

In "As Soldiers March, Alfonso Covers the Boy's Face with a Newspaper," Sonya kneels beside...