Theatre of War and Healing

Last updated on: October 3, 2015 at 12:17 am by Mark Shea

Theatre of War and Healing 2015-10-02T00:34:44-07:00 Mark Shea

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A reader writes:

I don’t know if you’ve ever heard about Bryan Doerries. He’s is a writer, director, and translator and the founder of Theater of War, a project that presents readings of ancient Greek plays to service members, veterans, and their families to help them initiate conversations about the visible and invisible wounds of war.

I heard him speak today about his experience with service members, and there were a number of very interesting points he brought up. First, he said that it was clear to him that these tragedies were written with the idea of communalizing the trauma of war – one in which those wounded from the war could have a cathartic experience that they shared with the members of their community, and in that way come to some internal resolution from the horrors they experienced.

In one part of the interview, he asked a service member why a play about a war hero, Ajax, was important, the soldier said because it improved morale by presenting *the truth* about the consequences of conflict. That struck me as important – that the way to healing was through truthfulness shared among companions.

Another thing that he pointed out, and this was very interesting, was that in recent years all of the asymmetrical combat has forced soldiers into actions which abrogated their moral foundations – causing a kind of moral injury. As such, it is a spiritual issue that most psychologist and clinicians are uncomfortable dealing with. He pointed out, for example, the example of soldiers in Afghanistan being ordered to ignore the crimes committed by Afghan leaders involving children, and other similar ones which caused deep moral trauma for the soldiers.

This reminded me of the guidance in the Church, which proclaims that the moral order does not cease in combat. And I wonder, is the Church ready to help in the healing of these soldiers, through the sacraments, and in prayer and counseling?

Anyway, I don’t really have much time to write, and I hope what I wrote is intelligible. I thought this was important.

PS. It looks like Bryan will be in Seattle in October. You or one of your clan might want to see it.

http://www.visitseattle.org/events/bryan-doerries-with-david-strathairn-and-lili-taylor/

Thank God for this guy. I don’t know what the Church is doing for our troops suffering trauma. I hope there is something for them, because God knows they need and deserve it, and they have been woefully shafted by a faithless nation and a feckless and selfish Ruling Class. I pray in Christ Jesus we do better.

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