Fred Johnson, founder of Shakespeare with Veterans, says there is an unexplainable power in Shakespeare’s words of 400 years ago that modern language can’t quite convey. War, loss, empathy, and tragedy are threads in the scripts that hit the heartstrings of many vets.
“But we in it shall be remembered,” Shakespeare wrote in Henry V, a play that is also known for it’s prolific battle speeches. “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.”
Some were skeptical that veterans would find this program interesting, but some neighboring organizations went ahead and joined together to make it happen, including the Louisville Vet Center and the Kentucky Shakespeare Company.
The Shakespeare With Veterans’ goal is to offer “the opportunity for camaraderie and a higher sense of purpose that represents what veterans loved most during military service.”
The vets rehearse in the local Louisville Vet Center, a haven that also provides counseling for PTSD, outreach, and referral services (like employment assistance).
Amy Attaway, artistic director for Kentucky Shakespeare, told Huffington Post about her experience directing the vets. “They would say, ‘this speech sounds like exactly what I would say to my soldiers in the field,’ or ‘this sounds like it could be today’. Those moments have been really exciting to me—new people waking up to the poetry and the power of the words. If you let yourself dig into it, you’ll find whatever you’re looking for.”
Since the program’s initial launch in early 2016, the experiment has become a success. Many vets have found great joy in discovering their inner thespians, some driving 2 hours each way to attend rehearsals.
Rise up! Hit share.
