LOUISVILLE, Ky. – “Soldiers Circle,” written by Russell Vandenbroucke, chair of the University of Louisville’s Department of Theatre Arts, dramatizes the daily lives of soldiers from their recruitment, through deployment to Iraq, then home again.
Based on actual stories of current soldiers and veterans, the play will be performed March 4 – 8 at 8 p.m. nightly plus a 3 p.m. matinee on March 8. All performances will be held at the Thrust Theatre, 2314 S. Floyd Street.
Vandenbroucke wrote the play while on a 2007 sabbatical that included his selection as a World Peace Fellow at the Rotary Center for Peace and Conflict Studies in Bangkok, Thailand. Drawing on experiences that included visits to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam as well as a previous trip to Russia, he interviewed soldiers who experienced war first hand in Iraq and received permission from others to adapt their writings and blogs.
Vandenbroucke said, “Soldiers Circle dramatizes the life-altering experiences of a diverse group of our countrymen and women. It strives to encapsulate ‘What Every Person Should Know About War,’ to borrow the title of a book by Christopher Hedges.”
A cast of fifteen men and women present a collective story told through dramatic vignettes, personal testimony, anecdotes and song. A series of circles dramatizes the bonding of soldiers through their shared experience.
“Most of us really don’t know what service is like. Soldiers themselves are often reluctant to talk about their life-altering experiences,” Vandenbroucke said. “I wanted to use their stories to dramatize the complex dynamics of men and women embroiled in the crucible of war.”
Individual show tickets are $12 for the general public or $8 for faculty, staff, students and senior citizens. For tickets and information, call 502-852-6814 or visit http://louisville.edu/a-s/ta/.
For more information about the play and its creation, call Vandenbroucke at 502-852-8444.