WEBVTT - Introducing - Blood Will Tell

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<v Speaker 1>Campsite media.

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<v Speaker 2>In front of me, there's a group of acting students.

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<v Speaker 2>The youngest ones are in their twenties, the oldest is

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<v Speaker 2>over seventy, and they're intently.

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<v Speaker 1>Focused on their teacher.

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<v Speaker 2>She's a woman with wiry, salt and pepper hair, and

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<v Speaker 2>she's leading them through an exercise. She calls out two

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<v Speaker 2>conflicting emotions.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's start with love and fear.

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<v Speaker 3>So let your movements.

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<v Speaker 1>Expressed love and fear.

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<v Speaker 2>And suddenly these actors are circling the room silently pantomiming

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<v Speaker 2>feelings of love and fear. They're warming up to rehearse

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<v Speaker 2>the final act of Othello, a play about jealousy and deception.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm here in California on assignment for The Washington Post.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm reporting a piece.

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<v Speaker 2>About Shakespeare as therapy, how these stories about our deepest

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<v Speaker 2>humanity can help people heal from their trauma because Shakespeare's plays,

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<v Speaker 2>at a core level, they're about what human beings do

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<v Speaker 2>to each other, what we're capable of at our best

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<v Speaker 2>and our worst.

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<v Speaker 1>I start talking to one of the actors because I'm

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<v Speaker 1>gentle yet can't drop my stories. Trung is friendly and

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<v Speaker 1>soft spoken.

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<v Speaker 2>Literally, I have to lean in close in order to

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<v Speaker 2>hear him. He's mid twenties, clean shaven with impeccably palmated hair.

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<v Speaker 2>He tells me he's a substance abuse counselor, and that

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<v Speaker 2>tracks the way he looks at me. I can tell

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<v Speaker 2>he's really listening. And when I ask him, Trunk says,

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<v Speaker 2>there's a lot of reasons he wanted to join this

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<v Speaker 2>Shakespeare group.

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<v Speaker 3>Had a OA and I did a break dancing too.

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<v Speaker 2>He loves to perform, and he likes these plays, how

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<v Speaker 2>they're universal themes of sacrifice, loss, and love have helped

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<v Speaker 2>him access his emotions, to see himself more clearly. He says,

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<v Speaker 2>these plays have allowed him to confront the pain he's caused.

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<v Speaker 2>I ask him what he means by that, and to

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<v Speaker 2>my surprise, he doesn't hesitate. He launches into a story

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<v Speaker 2>that I cannot believe is real, A story that feels

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<v Speaker 2>like Shakespeare himself could have written it, A story that

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<v Speaker 2>starts with Trung's identical twin brother.

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<v Speaker 1>Shakespeare was fascinated by siblings. There's Ophelia and.

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<v Speaker 2>Laertes, Edmund and Edgar Sebastian, and in both his comedies

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<v Speaker 2>and his tragedies, he makes them compete.

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<v Speaker 1>For the attention and approval of their parents.

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<v Speaker 2>He tests the limits of their love for one another,

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<v Speaker 2>and he pushes them apart, sometimes violently. Shakespeare himself was

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<v Speaker 2>the father of twins, Judith and Hamnet, and when Hamnet

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<v Speaker 2>died at the age of eleven, Shakespeare began to process

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<v Speaker 2>this very particular grief in his plays. He writes Twelfth

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<v Speaker 2>Night about twins separated in a shipwreck. The action of

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<v Speaker 2>the play is built around mistaken identities, but it's really

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<v Speaker 2>about the unique bond these siblings share and what happens

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<v Speaker 2>when that tie is broken. Trung knows all about this,

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<v Speaker 2>and it's a tale he's now pouring out to me.

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<v Speaker 2>Six years earlier, Trung tells me his twin On got

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<v Speaker 2>into a fight at a birthday party. By the time

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<v Speaker 2>it was over, the twins had embarked on a journey

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<v Speaker 2>that would forever change both of them, not just who

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<v Speaker 2>they were as individuals, but who they were to each other.

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<v Speaker 1>So where's your brother, Morn?

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<v Speaker 2>As Trung and I talk, his fellow Thespians are rehearsing

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<v Speaker 2>right there beside us, and I hear Othello, Morn, you

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<v Speaker 2>must speak of one that loved not wisely, but too well.

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<v Speaker 2>I can see how Trung and On are guilty of

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<v Speaker 2>having loved each other too well, if not always wisely.

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<v Speaker 1>Twins bonded through DNA and.

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<v Speaker 2>Also hardship brothers who were best friends, who trusted each

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<v Speaker 2>other completely, who would have followed each other anywhere, even

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<v Speaker 2>if it meant losing absolutely everything. From Wondery and camp

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<v Speaker 2>side Media, I'm Jen Miller and this is Blood will tell.

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<v Speaker 2>This is episode one, Shakespeare in San Jose. It's a

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<v Speaker 2>Saturday evening in January when eighteen year old Trung knocks

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<v Speaker 2>on the door of his brother's bedroom. They live in

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<v Speaker 2>the same home, but they haven't seen each other much lately.

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<v Speaker 2>Trunk's been swamped juggling a sales job at T Mobile,

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<v Speaker 2>a full course load at college, and finishing his Eagle

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<v Speaker 2>Scout certification.

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<v Speaker 1>And Trung is missing his best friend. But there's a

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<v Speaker 1>party tonight.

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<v Speaker 3>Pretty much for the first time like that. So these parties,

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<v Speaker 3>like it felt like a drag, but at the same time,

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<v Speaker 3>it's like, oh, let's go have fun. He sounds like

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<v Speaker 3>a good way to relax.

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<v Speaker 1>On looks up from his bed, which is littered with textbooks.

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<v Speaker 3>How do you want to go my at homework.

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<v Speaker 1>Trunk is surprised.

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<v Speaker 2>He's the one typically concerned about how today's choice will

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<v Speaker 2>impact tomorrow's outcome. That's how he's two semesters ahead in college.

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<v Speaker 2>But more recently, On has felt the pressure to keep

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<v Speaker 2>up with Trunk. On begs, let me study. Trunk's not

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<v Speaker 2>having any of it.

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<v Speaker 3>You know what, we deserve this. Let's just go and

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<v Speaker 3>have fun.

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<v Speaker 2>Maybe this party will be a good way to blow

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<v Speaker 2>off steam for both of them.

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<v Speaker 1>So On relents, all right, let's do it.

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<v Speaker 3>It's hyped up. Pick our outfits.

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<v Speaker 2>The party is a twenty first birthday thrown by a

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<v Speaker 2>friend of Trunk's girlfriend.

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<v Speaker 1>There's a black and white theme.

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<v Speaker 2>The twins pull on their true religion genes and long

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<v Speaker 2>sleeve black shirts. When they were little kids, their parents

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<v Speaker 2>often dress them the same, so this it's like a

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<v Speaker 2>fun throwback, and tonight it makes it almost impossible to

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<v Speaker 2>tell them apart. They're both five nine around one hundred

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<v Speaker 2>and sixty pounds. They have a few physical differences, though

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<v Speaker 2>Trung's face is clean shaven and more narrow, and On

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<v Speaker 2>has a sparse mustache and the shadow of a mole

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<v Speaker 2>over his lip. These minor physical differences are going to

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<v Speaker 2>be crucial for what's to come for the both of them.

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<v Speaker 2>After a final fit check in the mirror, they're ready

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<v Speaker 2>to head out. Trung drives his brother and their girlfriends

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<v Speaker 2>we're calling them Monica and Carly to a well appointed

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<v Speaker 2>split level home in the foothills of San Jose, California.

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<v Speaker 2>It's a short trip and a world away from the

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<v Speaker 2>affordable housing complex where the twins grew up. They walk

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<v Speaker 2>past a rock garden and flower beds. Following the thump

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<v Speaker 2>of music, Trung enters the party and takes a quick scan.

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<v Speaker 1>He's impressed.

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<v Speaker 3>Looks like pretty bougie and had a DJ and everything.

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<v Speaker 1>He goes to pour himself a drink.

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<v Speaker 3>They opened like a cooler and I saw shot glasses

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<v Speaker 3>made out of ice.

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<v Speaker 2>Trung makes his way through the house. The guests are

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<v Speaker 2>mostly Vietnamese like him. Some of them are college kids,

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<v Speaker 2>but he doesn't recognize them. They're at four year schools,

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<v Speaker 2>not community college like him and An.

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<v Speaker 1>Trung is relieved. In recent months.

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<v Speaker 2>He has been trying and largely failing to avoid situations

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<v Speaker 2>and people he knows are trouble.

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<v Speaker 3>When we would go out with specific individuals, Sho would

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<v Speaker 3>always pop off right. I would always feel the needs

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<v Speaker 3>jump in and participate.

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<v Speaker 1>But the vibes here are good.

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<v Speaker 2>The booze is flowing, pop brownies are being passed around,

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<v Speaker 2>and the music is pumping.

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<v Speaker 3>It was turned down for what, Well, John like that

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<v Speaker 3>song just came out.

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<v Speaker 2>Trung and On make a bee line to the beer

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<v Speaker 2>pong table, where they proceed to completely bite it.

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<v Speaker 3>We played horribly because didn't we sat on that table? Yeah,

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<v Speaker 3>we had to sit on the table man, which told

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<v Speaker 3>like we didn't make any shots. It was embarrassing.

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<v Speaker 1>Trung is so happy to have his brother here.

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<v Speaker 2>It's been so long since they've simply hung out like

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<v Speaker 2>this as brothers. Around them, everyone is getting drunk or

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<v Speaker 2>high or both. Troun is fully in the moment. He's

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<v Speaker 2>making the rounds a beer in his hand. For a while,

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<v Speaker 2>he loses track of his girlfriend Monica, that is until

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<v Speaker 2>she heads toward him, clearly upset.