Timeless Greek Drama–for Veterans
Bryan Doerries founded The Philoctetes Project , an innovative form of psychodrama using ancient Greek plays, in New York City last year as a way to help emotionally troubled active-duty military personnel and veterans.
In a recent article in the Kenyon College Alumni Bulletin Doerries said that he thought up the idea of inviting veterans and active-duty military to see 2, 500-year-old dramas because they deal with timeless themes about combat stress. The idea of the program, which Doerries directs, is that professionally acted readings of his translations of two plays by Sophocles can help audience members, who often repress their feelings about these subjects, at least begin to examine the issues, and perhaps begin to deal with them.
The readings are bare-bones affairs. There are no costumes, sets, or props. The actors sit in a semi-circle on an otherwise empty stage, reading their lines from behind metal stands or tables holding their scripts.
“I’m astounded by how much these plays resonate with my experiences and those of my friends and colleagues, ” one veteran who took in one reading in New York City said. “The commonalities are stunning. I can say with complete certainty that every military man and woman in this theater has seen something of themselves in those characters onstage.”
“I think the narrations are timeless, ” another veteran said. “The weapons may have changed, but the results are the same as they were centuries ago. We’re still human beings killing each other.”
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