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Description & Objectives Theater of War
Theater of War / PTSD Presentation
Included for all attendees; RSVP required to reserve ticket.
Session Description
The AJAX & PHILOCTETES Program features scenes from Sophocles’ Ajax and Philoctetes to promote dialogue about the seen and unseen wounds of war. Ajax tells the story of a fierce warrior who slips into a depression near the end of The Trojan War, attempts to murder his commanding officers, fails, and takes his own life. It is also the story of how Ajax’ wife and troops attempt to intervene before it’s too late.Philoctetes is a psychologically complex tragedy about a famous Greek warrior who is marooned on a deserted island by his army after contracting a horrifying and debilitating illness. It is also the story of a young officer who attempts to betray the wounded warrior by stealing his weapon, but then faces a moral dilemma about leaving the suffering soldier behind.
Each reading is followed by a panel discussion featuring a diverse group of community participants, as well as a town hall-style audience discussion. Traditionally, the panel includes: an active duty soldier who has experienced at least one deployment to the current conflicts, a veteran who has experienced at least one deployment to any past conflict, a spouse or another family member, and a mental health professional and/or a member of the military chaplaincy. The program takes approximately 1.5 hours, including the performance, panel discussion and the town hall meeting that follows.
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this session, attendees will be able to:
- Understand the effect of psychological and physical injuries on returning veterans, their families and communities
- Increase awareness of post-deployment psychological health issues
- Mobilize citizens and resources to help improve the lives of service members, veterans, their families and communities.
THEATER OF WAR PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Theater of War is an innovative public health project that presents readings of Sophocles’ Ajax, an ancient Greek play about the suicide of a great and respected warrior, as a catalyst for facilitated town hall discussions about suicide, combat stress, alcohol and substance abuse, and the impact of war on families. For the past five years, this groundbreaking project has been used to open up powerful dialogue on military installations and communities worldwide.
Theater of War aims to:
• Raise awareness and vigilance about suicide;
• De-stigmatize combat stress and psychological injury;
• Increase awareness about alcohol and substance abuse;
• Encourage service members and their families to seek help;
• Raise community awareness about the challenges faced by service members, veterans, and their families;
• Connect service members and their families with available resources.
THE PLAY
Sophocles’ Ajax tells the story of a fierce warrior who slips into a depression near the end of The Trojan War, after losing his best friend, Achilles. Feeling betrayed, Ajax attempts to murder his commanding officers, fails, and—ultimately—takes his own life. The play tells the story of the events leading up to Ajax’ suicide, as well as the story of his wife and troops attempt to intervene before it's too late. The play also depicts the devastating impact of Ajax’ suicide upon his wife, son, brother, troops, and chain of command.
THE DISCUSSION
The town hall-style discussion that follows the performance of scenes from Sophocles’ Ajax elicits first-person testimonials and powerful comments from service members of all ranks, with a special focus on the themes of suicide prevision and alcohol and substance abuse awareness. Community panel members who have struggled with and overcome combat stress, suicidal ideation, and alcohol and substance abuse kick off the conversation with their gut reactions to the play, relating the 2500-year-old story to their own post-deployment experiences. Then, a skilled facilitator asks the audience a series of questions designed to pull out timeless themes from the story of Ajax. The entire event, from beginning to end, lasts a total of 90 minutes.
Over the past five years:
• Theater of War has delivered more than 340 performances and discussions at military and civilian sites throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan, across all services: Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, including Reserve and National Guard units.
• Trainings have been attended by more than 70,000 service members and veterans of every rank, their family members and caregivers, from high level DoD and VA officials to Special Forces, as well as Army and Marine Infantry.
• To date, more than 100 acclaimed actors have participated in TOW, including: Jake Gyllenhaal, Frances McDormand, Jesse Eisenberg, Paul Giamatti, Adam Driver, Charles S. Dutton, Terrence Howard, Martin Sheen, David Strathairn, Amy Ryan, and Jeffrey Wright.
• Theater of War has generated positive national and local media coverage, over 40 national stories, extending its healing message of hope, help, and resilience to millions of service members, veterans, and families, as well as to civilians.
The following are links to select segments about TOW that aired in the US on the PBS Newshour and NPR, as well as a feature article that appeared in The New York Times. Also, here’s a link to a 5-minute talk TOW founder Bryan Doerries gave about the project in 2011.
Please visit our website - www.outsidethewirellc.com - where you can find more information about the project, watch a short video of a performance, and find out about recent and upcoming performances.