Shakespeare + Chicago + Cohen's There Is a War

[Goldin]

Leonard Cohen’s “There Is A War” Plays Pivotal Role In Structure Of Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s “Tug of War: Foreign Fire” @ Cohencentric

But [Artistic Director Barbara] Gaines has purposefully split up Shakespeare’s three-part series, perhaps in part to make the point that war has no finale because we keep fighting the same wars again and again in each generation. To emphasize this point, Gaines adds a postlude, in which the entire cast dons those fold-up Christmas cracker crowns and sings a couple of choruses of “Why don’t you come on back to the war?” from Leonard Cohen’s “There Is a War,” concluding on the line “let’s all get even.” Nothing is finished, war just keeps coming back. Thus we conclude with a depressing but appropriate commentary on our inability to keep the peace.