Ep. 68 - Shakespeare with Veterans: Shakespeare and the Soldier's Soul

November 11 is a day on which we celebrate and honor veterans. It was on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month that the armistice to end World War I occurred. Although the Treaty of Versailles was signed in June of 1919, the temporary end of hostilities had happened six months prior.

Of course, veterans have long played a central role in storytelling and literature. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey tell the stories of men in the midst of battle and what happens to them once they are off the fields. From Ireland to India, war and the warriors who fight them have been integral to the stories that have been passed down through time.

Shakespeare, too, in his works has examined the humanity of soldiers in all its various forms. Kentucky Shakespeare started an outreach program 5 years ago called Shakespeare with Veterans which is like a reading club, theater troupe, and support group all rolled into one.

We have two guests this week, First we have Amy Attaway, who is the associate artistic director of Kentucky Shakespeare and runs the Shakespeare with Veterans program. Then later on in the show, we will be joined by Stephen Montgomery who is a Vietnam veteran who served in both the Army and Navy and was a career intelligence officer until his retirement several years ago. He is a member of the Shakespeare with Veterans group.

General George C. Marshall once said, “The soldier’s heart, the soldier’s spirit, the soldier’s soul are everything.” So on this Veteran’s Day we talk to Amy and Stephen about why Shakespeare’s plays speak to the experience of military veterans in a way other literature does not, what veterans find in the group that reminds them of their time in the military, and how this group enriches their hearts, spirits, and souls.

Books or plays mentioned in this episode:

Shakespeare Plays:
1- The Merchant of Venice
2- Henry IV
3- Henry V
4- Macbeth
5- Hamlet
6- Pericles, Prince of Tyre

Books:
1- The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick
2- Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
3- Nothing But the Truth by Avi
4- I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search For the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara
5- In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
6- Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
7- Mindhunter: Inside The FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by John E. Douglas