Today, we call it Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Before that, troops came home with Vietnam Syndrome.
Three wars earlier, we had Battle Fatigue or Shell Shock.
But in more poetic times, there was Soldier’s Heart.
Soldier’s Heart-II – Performing Wellness ™ At The Coast
Real Stories by Veterans, on Stage
Seven writers, veterans from Vietnam and Desert Storm, including a nurse and two veterans’ wives, are offering their stories of Coming Home and living with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). These powerful personal testaments told with honesty, ironic humor and deep compassion for the human experience, will be read by actors on stage.
The website promoting the first
Soldier’s Heart production can be found
here.
Co-sponsored by the Chinook Winds Casino Resort, an enterprise of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and the Oregon Coast Council for the Arts, a Soldier’s Heart-II performance is coming six coastal communities in Sept and October this year.
Soldier’s Heart II addresses a timely need. Every day new veterans are returning home from war, many with PTSD. The veterans who wrote these Performing Wellness stories are insistent that their stories are retold not for their own benefit but those now ‘coming home’. The journey through PTSD includes shock, anger, grief, despair, and, for some, hope, love and most of all community.
Soldier’s Heart II will demonstrate to veterans, old and new, that they are not alone in their struggles. In telling and hearing the stories we begin to create community; it is a real contribution to healing and reintegration into civilian life.
| Performances will be hosted in: | on: | For reservations: |
| Yachats, at The Commons | Saturday, Sep. 22 @ 7 p.m. | 541-547-4734 |
| Tillamook, TAPA | Sunday, Sep. 23 @ 2 p.m. | 503-842-7940 |
| Lincoln City, at Theatre West | Saturday, Sep. 29 @ 7 p.m. | 541- 994-7748 |
| Newport, OCCA, the Studio Theatre | Sunday, Sep. 30 @ 7 p.m. | 541-265-2787 |
Pacific City Arts Assoc. Inc.*
Cape Kiwanda Com. Centre | Saturday Oct. 6 @ 7 p.m. | hawkeskatem@gmail.com |
Florence, Florence Playhouse
(208 Laurel St.) | Sunday, Oct. 7 @ 7 p.m. | 541-997-1675 |
Tickets: $2-$10 range/donations
*The performance at Pacific City Arts Association is free.
Most performances will be followed by a mediated Talkback/Discussion.
A Portland Vet Center Counselor will be present at each performance.
Open to the public. This show is NOT suitable for children.
Performers include: Sharon Mann (the Portland actress who worked with the writer Colleen, for the first performance of her work), Alexa Soles, and local actors Ellen Christian, Patti Siberz, Mandy Elgin, Holly Harrison, Danny Roberson, Matt Blakeman, and special guest, Sean Lewis - Desert Storm veteran, writer and, for this tour, performer of his own story.
Writers include: Ted Kiser, Don Mills, Kristine Kiser, Colleen Helmstetter, Mike Mullane, Pat Helmstetter and Sean Lewis, who will be performing his writing onstage for the first time.
For further information contact Kate Hawkes at: 541- 994-5904
or email:
hawkesk atem@gmai l.com. Please put "Soldiers Heart II" in the subject line.
Media: soldiersheart.org on KPSU community radio
Sean T Lewis, webmaster of
soldiersheart.org, was the guest on
PDX Soundtracks on
KPSU, Portland State
University's community radio station. PDX Soundtracks, music and discussion from the
hearts and minds of Portlanders, airs every Sunday afternoon at 3pm on KPSU 1450 AM
in the Portland Metro area or streamed live world wide from the main page at
KPSU.ORG. Hosted by Jeremy Hardy. Archive of
Sean’s November 26 appearance can be streamed from the PDX Soundtracks
homepage.
Works of art displayed and opinions expressed at soldiersheart.org are owned exclusively by
the artists who create them.
