Dramatizing Iraq and Afghanistan: Veteran Voices from the War on Terror

Abstract

Veteran written and inspired drama exists in a unique place in theatrical history. Many of the earliest dramatic writers were veterans, and many of their plays dealt with social and political responses to war. Dramatizing war on theatrical stages gives the veteran an avenue of expression for his or her wartime experiences, and it opens a space for social and political dialogue about the nature of war and its effects on veterans. This thesis examines the social and political relevance of three plays that have emerged from veterans from the War on Terror. Previous scholarship has examined the dramatic contribution of other veteran groups. However, because only a short time period has elapsed between the beginning of the War on Terror and today, a gap in the field of significant scholarly contributions to plays from this generation of veterans exists. This thesis addresses this gap by analyzing three plays to emerge from the War on Terror. These plays are veteran written or veteran inspired and each comes from unique perspectives and experiences from the war. War on Terror veterans writing about their experiences find a unique place in the body of veteran inspired dramas. The experiences these dramatists present in their plays--LGBT service, gender discrimination, and military sexual trauma--should open up a dialogue about socially and politically relevant issues to this veteran cohort. The specific approaches to the texts vary from chapter to chapter, and are based in large part on the nature of the play the chapter examines.