A.R.T. Students Explore Effects of War

“Why does anyone fight?” It’s a question as old as warfare. With the assistance of arward-winning playwright Ellen McLaughlin, students at the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at the American Repertory Theatre have been tackling this question, drawing on extensive field research and the themes surrounding war since the ancient Greeks. “Ajax in Iraq,” McLaughlin’s new original play being performed at the Zero Arrow Theatre this weekend, is the culmination of their studies, exploring the post-traumatic stress associated with the hardships accounted in war.

The group has been working on the production for over a year, conducting interviews with veterans and soldiers in order to familiarize themselves with the war experiences of the present and the recent past. Students have also researched the evolution of war over the past few millennia.

“The research projects went in a lot of different directions,” says Renzo Ampuero, one of the student actors. “Some people looked at American behavior abroad through history, some looked at myths of war through history…not just from the Greeks. We explored brotherhood and post-traumatic stress disorder. Throughout the process, we interviewed a lot of veterans and people in service.”

Heidi Nelson, one of the dramaturges, says that when they began working on the project two summers ago, the group had no idea what sort of production it would ultimately produce.

“We knew it would be a play about war, but nothing more specific than that,” Nelson says. “[McLaughlin] asked people to research anything and everything that peaked their interest involving war.” Students were asked to create presentations based on the work they had done, which they gave in workshops with McLaughlin last October. “Themes that emerged were female soldiers, PTSD and combat drama, and the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq,” Nelson says. “[McLaughlin] brought up that she saw parallels in the themes discussed and the play ‘Ajax’ by Sophocles.”

McLaughlin decided to adapt “Ajax,” creating a new work set in Iraq with a female protagonist. “Ajax in Iraq” incorporates many aspects of the original Greek work—which considered the effects of the Trojan war on the Greek soldier Ajax—with scenes that feature both the Greek characters and their present-day couterparts.

“[McLaughlin] did an amazing job of fitting in so much of [our research] and weaving it into the myth,” Ampuero says. “Dr. Jonathan Shay, of Tufts University, wrote ‘Achilles in Vietnam’ and ‘Odysseus in America’ on war and theater created by veterans for veterans. He proposed this theory that Greek theatre—because it was written by generals and veterans of war and…performed by soldiers and soldiers in training and watched by them as well–would provide healing.”

The students hope that “Ajax in Iraq” will further this same mission of healing.

“One thing that we found is that even though many of us in our society are very withdrawn from the war, we’re all connected to it, some much more than others, but it’s something that weighs on us in society,” Ampuero says. “For me, one of the great privileges of being in this production, by putting this material together and voicing it, is that process of creating material and healing.”

“Ajax in Iraq” incorporates many important themes regarding war and society, and each student actor has a different hope for what the audience will take away.

“For me, one of the most potent things is the Vietnam veteran, which [Ampuero] plays, who’s homeless in D.C. at the war memorial,” says Emily Alpren, who plays “A.J.,” the heroine. “Just the idea of how we deal with veterans.”

Actress Lisette Silva Sanchez says she can’t pinpoint one theme that is any more important than the others: “It’s such a knot.”