Thursday, November 12, 2009
Theater of War Uses Sophocles to Help Anguished Soldiers
NYTimes.com: "The ancient Greeks had a shorthand for the mental anguish of war, for post-traumatic stress disorder and even for outbursts of fratricidal bloodshed like last week’s shootings at Fort Hood. They would invoke the names of mythological military heroes who battled inner demons: Achilles, consumed by the deaths of his men; Philoctetes, hollowed out from betrayals by fellow officers; Ajax, warped with so much rage that he wanted to kill his comrades."
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5 comments:
"The Pentagon has provided $3.7 million for an independent production company, Theater of War, to visit 50 military sites through at least next summer and stage readings from two plays by Sophocles, 'Ajax' and 'Philoctetes,' for service members"
$3.7 million dollars set aside for theatre specifically for the military is great, even if most of that budget line is going towards travel expenses (military flights are not cheap for civilians) it at least shows that the pentagon sees the value in the cathartic nature of greek theater.
I agree with Kevin that this is a significant amount of money being spent on this project and it bodes well for the future of the arts in American society. This kind of allowance would have had to pass through several levels of scrutiny and budgeting so this is clearly a majority that believes in the power of theatre to evoke thought. We often associate Greek tragedy with that of the primal and ancient feelings, so the fact that modern soldiers can connect to it only further proves some of the universal ideas that Greek plays present.
What this says most to me, other than the amount of money and dedication that the military is putting into this project, is the transcendance of problems from what seems like ancient history through today. Every issue that we face in life can be represented in some way through art, and the physical and mental anguish of war on the individual men, and the society that must bear the weight of their decisions, is something that will never change. That the government is recognizing this, that there is repetition and permanence in history, might be a kick in the right direction; learning from mistakes and past failures to find better solutions than war.
This is an amazing example of how theater can affect people, and change our society. For people stigmatized to therapy, empathizing and relating to these characters, the validation that comes with seeing a performance, knowing their not alone, is priceless. Being told that you're not alone is one thing, seeing actors play characters--written hundreds of years ago--going through the same thing is something else entirely.
The fact that the military recognizes this is absolutely amazing, and a huge step forward for theater. I am so happy to see that this is happening, and I hope it helps the soldiers who see this.
Guys, this is going to be Sharisse geeking out to Greek tragedy...but this is so cool!!! I seriously love how Homer's stories are still so relevant because it goes back to this thing we've been ranting about day after day in foundations class. That there are no more new stories. All our productions and all our ideas are being transformed and revived from history. Even if we think certain things are really original and unheard of...typically they aren't. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but my fav. example in the whole world is Dark Knight, and the Joker in Batman :) People are so obsessed with this modern spin on a dark character, when he's actually based off of the mythological trickster. So taking ideas like this and turning them into something proactive in the modern world brings me lots of joy !
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