Veterans on Stage: Lola Arias' Minefield and Owen Sheers' The Two Worlds of Charlie F.

Many ancient works such as Sophocles’ Ajax and Philoctetes, Aeschylus’ Persians depicted war and its wounds

timelessly. In today’s world, war is still a very much contemporary issue and one

of the defining forces of life, as the contemporary world grapples with the

legacy of a new millennium that is perturbed by innumerable terrorist incidents

and wars.<o:p></o:p>

British

theatre as any other literary forms has always been informed by the ruptures

around the world. As a response to contemporary conflicts and wars,

contemporary stage abounds in plethora of war depictions. Rather than giving a

romanticized or heroic portrayal of war, theatrical works have started to focus

on the traumatizing effects of war on soldiers and the civilians. Many of these

plays engaged in depictions of war are informed by the media coverages and the

accounts of the returned soldiers. Consisting

of testimonies of Argentinian and British war veterans fought in Falklands War

Lola Arias’ Minefield and referring to

the effects of war in Afghanistan Owen Sheers’ The Two Worlds of Charlie F. are performed by the interviewed

soldiers themselves providing an unusual experience for the contemporary

audience. Although they do not provide obvious examples, these plays

carry some features of verbatim theatre which is a new form of theatre based on

interviews with real people. In the light of verbatim theatre and trauma

theories, the perception of war and its effects in these plays will be discussed.<o:p></o:p>

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Keywords: British

theatre, verbatim theatre, trauma, war, Minefield, The Two Worlds of Charlie F. <o:p></o:p>