The Theater of War: What Ancient Tragedies Can Teach Us Today

Some may think that I cannot be an impartial reviewer because I know Bryan Doerries; I am one of his former teachers. If I wrote a glowing, undeserved review, I would be a very poor teacher indeed. I never handed out unearned A’s and it doesn’t seem wise to start doing that now. Saying that, I have nothing but the highest praise for THE THEATER OF WAR. In the beginning of the book Bryan establishes his ethos by revealing tragedies in his own life. By doing so, Bryan gains the trust of the reader. We learn that he is more than a theater director, writer, and translator specializing in Greek and classical literature. We see that he has confronted his own uncertainties, guilt, and possible fate, so we listen when he presents his premise: Greek tragedy can change our lives because it has the potential of “cultivating a heightened awareness of the forces that shape our lives and [exposing] ... the pivotal role our choices and actions play in realizing our destiny.” In other words, Greek tragedy can help us learn we are not prisoners of fate.Theater of War, a project that presents readings of ancient Greek plays to encourage a dialogue to help the military and their families heal from the wounds of war, grew out of this premise. Over 300 performances of Sophocles’ Ajax and Philoctetes have benefited both military and civilian audiences here and abroad. Theater of War’s success inspired other innovative projects serving others’ needs: prisoners and corrections officers; the dying, their families, and palliative care professionals; and natural disaster victims. This book explains these projects by presenting excerpts from tragedies and then sharing people’s responses to them. Like Ajax and Philoctetes, modern man and woman, no longer shackled in the prison of their own private thoughts, cry out in a public forum that promotes healing. Bryan presents persuasive evidence of the power of his projects, thus proving his premise that Greek tragedy can change lives.Reading this book will both instruct you and challenge you. Even though Bryan asserts that he is no professor, I learned more about ancient Greek culture and tragedy from this book than from any college English course I took. Bryan says that “one hope of this book is to administer an antidote to the obligatory high school unit on ancient Greek tragedy.” His “antidote” deserves a well-earned A+. He also earned a high mark for making me question my suppositions about war, the prison system, end of life issues, and fate.My wish for you is that you not only read this book, but if you have the opportunity, you also attend a Theater of War program, or one of Outside the Wire’s other programs. I was fortunate to attend a Theater of War program at a military base in Tidewater, Virginia. It was the most amazing piece of theater I have ever witnessed. It affected people—not in an Oral Roberts’ way of “Praise! You are now healed!” Instead, it freed people from their shackles of silence and initiated a conversation—a conversation that opened up a path towards healing. This book tells the stories of those who joined the conversation and started their journeys. These people’s brave, honest revelations show us that Greek tragedy lives on to teach us today.

This has to be one of the most heart-wrenching and eye-opening books I've ever read. I never would have thought of plays written over two thousand years ago having such relevance to modern day life but this book proved me wrong. It has inspired me to want to read and see these Greek Tragedies performed myself.It also made me re-examine my own thoughts and attitudes towards not just soldiers and veterans but to prison correctional officers and healthcare workers. Definitely a book I'll be recommending to friends and family.After reading the book for the first time, I also bought the audio version that is superbly narrated by Adam Driver, bringing the already powerful words to even greater heights

I needed this book so badly, and I didn't even know it. As a drama teacher at a classical school I know the power of our inherited tragedies to connect us to universal questions about what the value of our existence. But I've always struggled to help my students see the myths of our daily experiences too, largely because of their inexperience and because popular culture is firmly checked at the entrance door each morning.In 2018 I was preparing to produce Trojan Women with a class of 12th graders, and when I read the play it immediately struck me how relatable these women were as victims of war, in our time as victims of domestic violence, rape culture, sex trafficking, forced single motherhood, etc. This led me to Doerries' book, and it revolutionized everything. My students were mostly young women preparing to leave for college, and I knew the dangers they might be facing on a college campus and in the workplace. I also knew several of them (young men and women) planned to study law, public policy, and international relations. So rather than wag my finger at them in hopes they'd listen, I asked the story to speak to them instead. Every one of the them got a copy of Doerries' book along with their scripts, and both were a gift.Fast forward to 2021, and I am now embarking on Antigone with another group of 12th graders with another new copy of this book. Unlike in 2018, most of my students now are apathetic and confused. Expectations let them down big time over the last 11 months and they don't even know what it means to move on. Where is their dissociation coming from? Why do they simply look at our civil wars and Covid terrors and shrug? I can't tell whether I need to comfort the afflicted or afflict the comfortable. So I'm struggling to show them it's really good for us to perform a tragedy right now. As Doerries says, it "validate[s] our moral distress at living in a universe in which many of our actions and choices are influenced by external powers far beyond our comprehension" (p. 13).I don't know where this production will lead us, but I do know The Theater of War is my lamp in the darkness. I am more grateful than I know how to express in words, so hopefully our play will do it better.

The one thing I learned for sure after this listening is I'm a slut for Adam Driver. This fact aside, this book is part autobiography, part philosohphy and psychology book, part ancient greek drama course, all of which put in a very nice measure. I got the Kindle and the audiobook version, the latter of which I strongly recommend. I learned about the book from an episode of "The art of manliness" podcast dedicated to the book which I also recommend as a preview.

I didn’t dislike anything about this book. Explains the trauma of war, and what can be done to help.

I ordered this after hearing Bryan Doerries interviewed on radio. The book was well worth it. It's a clean, clear read though the subject matter is often difficult. Doerries has made new, very direct, somewhat simplified translations of some of the Ancient Greek tragedies and has produced readings of them for veterans, doctors, prison guards, and other groups who have suffered through great anguish. Doerries makes the connection between ancient drama and modern lives very clear.