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

Bryan Doerries is a writer, director, translator, and the founder of “Theater of War,” a project that presents readings of ancient Greek plays to service members, veterans, caregivers, and families to help them initiate conversations about the visible and invisible wounds of war. He is also the co-founder of Outside the Wire, a social impact company that uses theater and a variety of other media to address pressing public health and social issues, such as combat-related psychological injury, end-of-life care, prison reform, domestic violence, political violence, recovery from natural and man-made disasters, and the destigmatization of addiction. A self-described evangelist for classical literature and its relevance to our lives today, Doerries uses age-old approaches to help individuals and communities heal from suffering and loss. His forthcoming book, The Theater of War: What Ancient Greek Tragedies Can Teach Us Today, will be published by Alfred A. Knopf in September, along with a volume of his translations of ancient Greek tragedies, entitled All That You’ve Seen Here is God.

Academy Award-nominated actor David Strathairn had an extensive resume of supporting roles before being cast in the lead as newsman Edward R. Murrow in George Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck. He has been a longtime collaborator with the writer/filmmaker John Sayles and has appeared in seven of Sayles’s films, including Return of the Secaucus Seven, Brother From Another Planet, Matewan, and Limbo. Strathairn has appeared in the films The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Bourne Ultimatum, and Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln. He earned an Emmy award for his role in the HBO television film Temple Grandin and an Emmy nomination for his role as John Dos Passos in Hemingway and Gelhorn. He has continued to perform on the stage as well, twice at ACT in San Francisco, and most recently in New York, on Broadway in The Heiress. His involvement since its inception with Bryan Doerries’ “Theater of War”— the innovative public-health project seeking to help military veterans cope with combat stress and PTSD— continues to be among the most vital and rewarding experiences of his acting career.

On Broadway, actor Paul Giamatti appeared in The Iceman Cometh, Three Sisters, and Racing Demon and Arcadia. His other theater credits include The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and The Blues Are Running, as well as productions at La MaMa E.T.C., Playwrights Horizons, Williamstown Theatre Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, and Annex Theatre. His film credits include Private Parts, The Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan, The Negotiator, Planet of the Apes, American Splendor, Sideways, Cinderella Man, The Illusionist, The Last Station, Barney’s Version, Win Win, The Ides of March, Rock of Ages, John Dies at the End, and Cosmopolis. Giamatti’s television credits include John Adams, Downton Abbey, 30 Rock, and Too Big to Fail.