Regardless of who said it, statistics from the World War I battle of the Somme speak to the statement's truth.
It's difficult to wrap your mind around the death of 57,470 soldiers on the first day of that battle or the more than 1 million who died during the siege that lasted from July 1 to Nov. 18, 1916.
2 comments:
After interning at PICT Classic Theatre this summer, I am really excited and looking forward to seeing this production. Although the play is about World War I, our current generation can still take something from this play, with the ideals of camaraderie and dedication to one's homeland. I also like that PICT chose to put on a very historically based piece, in a time when the direction tends to lean toward abstract and contemporary pieces, it is good to see a historically grounded piece that informs general audiences while also entertaining them. I look forward to seeing this show.
I'm always excited to hear about new theatrical productions that directly deal with the human experiences of modern warfare, especially since they are surprisingly scarcely represented to the general public in live theater despite their prevalence in our human history. I'm most often surprised at the scarcity of well known theatrical pieces depicting modern warfare, (warfare dating from WWI onward) especially since warfare has always been such an integrative part of our human history. Yes warfare is openly depicted in film, TV shows and books in its pure, gritty form, however it has often been past aside for the most part in the ranks of live theater. Why is this? Well it might have to do with the romanticism of theater as an escape from the unpleasant reminders of aspects of our everyday lives, or maybe with the problems with finding a way to best illustrate full scale warfare and the corresponding action within restrictive theatrical means.Whatever the reason may be, for the most part many plays touch on the presence of war in our society but the vast majority stray away from directly delving into the world of the soldier despite their importance in society and the unique intimate, horrifying and non-equatable physical and psychological experiences they have while away on the battlefield. With the prospective of the modern soldier so often overlooked in the scope of theater I'm always intrigued and excited when I hear of a new theatrical production thats trying to defy this convention.
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