LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The CW Louisville network will feature “Soldiers Circle” at 10 a.m – Noon, Monday, May 25, Memorial Day. The play, 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.
Filmed during its premiere at UofL in March, actors’ performances portray roles based on actual stories of current soldiers and veterans.
“The play is touching and thought provoking,” said Carol LaFever, CW’s executive officer. “It is timely for the holiday and is consistent with our commitment to local TV.”
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.
“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.”
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.
The CW Louisville, WBKI TV, broadcasts over the air on digital channels 34 and 28, Insight Cable channel 7 and on Direct TV and Dish Network. It will rebroadcast the play at 8 p.m., June 6, during Saturday primetime.
For more information about the play and its creation, call Vandenbroucke at 502-852-8444.