This website is dedicated to all the veterans who have so unstintingly shared their stories with the faculty and students of Carthage Theatre, and trusted us with their most personal and sacred memories.

The Creation of Fighting For Home

The Background: Veteran Verbatim Projects

Since 2015 when Carthage embarked on the first of our verbatim theatre projects, I've been working on using this unique form of theatre to help give a voice to the untold stories of veterans of the armed forces. Our first project was the play Afghanistan/Wisconsin, written by student Laurel McKenzine '16, based on interviews with 12 veterans of the war in Afghanistan. In addition to performing at Carthage, we also toured the show to the Kenosha Public Museum, the Wisconsin Veteran's Museum in Madison, and to UW Stevens Point. It was also selected for re-mounting at the American College Theatre Festival for our region in January of 2016, and received several ACTF National awards.

The play was a watershed moment in my development as a verbatim theatre practitioner. Laurel and I didn't really know much about the process of verbatim theatre when we started, but we didn't let that stop us from giving it a try. Though I researched and read several books about the technique, it was the actual experience of creating the show that taught us the most.

After the production, one of the female participants in Afghanistan/Wisconsin urged me to look more closely at the issues facing women in the armed forces. That stuck with me through the next several years, as I continued to work with our students on smaller scale verbatim projects tied to our "Vet Night of the Arts" fundraiser, which we debuted in 2016 and produced for four years.

I also discovered that the verbatim technique added value to our undergraduate theatre model in several distinct ways: first, students in verbatim projects get to practice a very different form of theatre making than our usual model of producing previously scripted "dramatic" plays. For some, this has been not only immediately enlightening, but has cultivated a deeper interest in using alternative theatre techniques to affect change.

Second, when the living subjects of these stories attend the event, a new awareness about the theatrical process is clarified for young theatremakers. The portrayal of "character" is thrown into a new focus when the student realizes that the care and respect they bring to portraying a real person is just as important to utilize in portraying a fictional one. Although I have spoken here mostly of the effect on actors, these realizations also extend to technicians and designers working on shows as well.

Third, students are able to directly connect their embodiment of real living people back to those people and see how transformative theatre has the power to be, beyond the fulfilling of their own personal or professional goals. They re-direct their attention outward to the people, the community, and experiences they are embodying. Many of the veterans who participated spoke afterwards about the effect of seeing their stories mirrored back to them through theatre, and how impactful it was to feel the affirmation that "their stories matter."

Fourth, students begin to view theatre as a community service and asset, and a means of consciousness-raising. We offered veterans an anonymous way to get their stories "out there" to the public, and so we were tying our theatre work directly into a community outreach activity, as well as engaging in a small-scale form of activism and art therapy. Most Americans are unaware of the realities faced by the tiny percentage of the population who serve, and the shows create a space for that dialogue.

After consultation with my department chair Herschel Kruger, we focused on me applying for a sabbatical for the spring of 2019, leading to the production of a new play in the spring of 2020. I drew up a plan for interviewing participants as well as some travel and research in support of the process.

Timeline of Significant Events

This also includes other verbatim projects and veteran theatre projects that I pursued while I was applying for, and engaged on, my sabbatical.

Spring 17:

• Conducted interviews with two student veterans: After the success of Afghanistan/Wisconsin and Vet Night, student Lawrence Gums and I decided to keep interviewing veterans as the opportunity arose. We found two willing participants within the Carthage community and conducted interviews with them. While I didn't have time to process their interviews or work them into a presentation at that time, this was yet another opportunity to practice the skills associated with interviewing participants and opening up dialogue with them that would lead to compelling stories.

Fall 17:

• October: submitted proposal for the sabbatical

• November: sabbatical proposal accepted

• November: Vet Night of the Arts: This year's presentation featured staged readings of veteran-written essays, an excerpt of a new translation of AJAX created by two Carthage students (Melody Abbott and Vet Night co-creator Lawrence Gums), and a performance by nationally renowned veteran artist/activist Stephan Wolfert. See photos here.

Spring 18:

• February: sabbatical approved by the board

• March 2018: I reach out to Dr. Leslie Cameron, chair of the Carthage Institutional Review Board, Dr. Becki Hornung of Social Work and Lydia Zopf of the Health and Counseling Center to discuss consent documents and other issues pertaining to verbatim interviewing under the purview of Carthage. Through them I was also connected with Professor Bradley Zopf , who was particularly helpful in reviewing my consent documents and suggesting improvements.

Fall 18:

• Getting Ready

• September: I successfully completed the Carthage Institutional Review Board/NIH training for working with human subjects.

• October: I directed AJAX by Sophocles, the world premiere of a new translation by Carthage classics major/theatre minor Melody Abbott ’18, and classics major and combat veteran Lawrence Gums ’19. As relevant today as it was when Sophocles first wrote it, this timeless tragedy follows the story of Ajax, hero warrior of the Trojan War, who is publicly humiliated when the armor of fallen hero Achilles is gifted to Odysseus instead of him.

Our new adaptation of AJAX sought to bridge the ancient and the contemporary, and shine a light on the current epidemic of PTSD and veteran suicide, exploring the issues faced by those who come home from war and attempt to re-enter society. See photos here.

• November: Verbatim work for Vet Night of the Arts: In its third year, the Vet Night focused exclusively on the stories of eight veteran residents of the VOW Vet Village in Racine, WI. This facility helps homeless veterans transition back into civilian life, jobs, homes, etc.

Vet Night was my next use of verbatim theatre technique: With the help of student Lawrence Gums, I interviewed the veterans, and a team of six Carthage Theatre students worked to transcribe the anonymized audio. Then I compiled the script entitled Voices of VOW. The evening’s readings were punctuated by music from local musician/poet laureate Brent Mitchell. The veterans and staff of VOW attended the performance, and spoke to the public at the talkback. As usual, all proceeds were donated to Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin.

• December: I made plans to visit one of the veteran participants in Washington, DC, as well as visit the Women in Military Service to America veteran memorial.

• December: Dr. Becki Hornung agrees to collaborate on the project with me. I contacted Dr. Becki Hornung from Social Work to see if she would be willing to help me interview subjects. She has previous experience working with veterans in the social work context, and had even collaborated with theatre professors at a previous institution. I also wish to be sensitive to the fact that some women may feel more comfortable talking to another woman about their experiences, and I don't wish to be perceived as somehow taking male "ownership" of their personal accounts.

Spring/Summer 19:

• Interviews and Research

• IRB review: in order to fully comply with Carthage human research guidelines, I completed an IRB application and submitted it. The IRB process underwent an overhaul in early January, right when I wanted to submit, so I waited until February.

• March: Due to the low-risk nature of the research, the IRB board approves my proposal as “not research,” requiring no further review. However the training was very valuable.

• March 19: travel funding approved: my application for funding for travel to Washington, DC is approved by Carthage

• I began working on the script of Welcome Back?, a short play composed of interviews with 2 veterans at Carthage I conducted with Lawrence Gums in spring 2017. My sabbatical finally gave me time to process and edit these conversations into a one-act play. I worked closely with two former students, Alex Johnson and Elodie Senetra, to edit and rehearse the play over the summer and early fall.

• Conduct interviews: we sent out the first invitations the week of March 13. From March 27 until August 21, we interviewed nine female veterans.

  • • March 27: local interview with Coast Guard veteran (at Carthage)

    • March 27: local interview with Navy veteran (at Carthage)

    • April 1: local interview with Air Force veteran (at Carthage)

    • April 8: Coast Guard follow-up interview (at Carthage)

    • April 12: Navy follow-up interview (at Carthage)

    • May 18: interview via Skype in DC with Air Force Colonel, retired

    • May 20: local interview with second Navy veteran (at Carthage)

    • June 10: phone interview with Marine officer veteran

    • June 27: phone interview with Army cook veteran

    • July 27: phone interview with active duty Marine intel officer

    • August 21: phone interview with Army Reserve intel

• May 16-19: Research trip to Washington, DC with Dr. Becki Hornung. While in DC, we interviewed the Air Force Colonel, via Skype. We had hoped to meet her in person but were not able to. We also made contact with two other veterans. One of these ended up interviewing with us (active duty Marine). We also visited the Women in Military Service To America Memorial archives and met with their archivist. We looked over multiple interesting documents in their archive. Their staff connected us with yet another veteran that we ended up interviewing. We also visited Arlington National Cemetery and the Women in Service Memorial located there. See photos here.

• Veteran Art Triennial, Chicago IL: Sponsored by the National Veterans Art Museum, this event was held May 3-July 29. I attended the opening and met with two of the interview subjects there. See photos here.

• First annual Festival of Veteran Theatre, Milwaukee WI: Dr. Hornung and I attended the production of She Went To War, created by the Telling Project May 25, 2019.

• Voices of VOW project #2, August: For the upcoming Vet Night of the Arts we decided once again to focus on residents of the VOW Vet Village using verbatim theatre techniques to tell their stories. I conducted interviews with four residents. Due to time constraints, these interviews were shorter than those we conducted in 2018. I recruited student playwright Emma Swain to take on the project of transcribing and creating the “Voices of VOW” presentation for the coming fall. I had previously worked with her on AJAX, where she had served as the dramaturg.

• Ongoing literature review and research: see a list of research sources here.

Fall 19:

• Writing the play:

  • • I did not use any student assistants for the interviews, transcribing, or editing.

    • I transcribed the interviews on a rolling basis. Each recording was uploaded to Otter. The resulting transcript was then proofed by listening to the whole interview again and editing to correct Otter mistakes.

    • First Draft: I began putting together the stories in August.

    • I printed out all the transcripts as they were completed. This was over 400 pages single-spaced.

    • I created a code system for 13 different types of stories or themes, and assigned corresponding parts of each transcript to one of the categories.

    • Then using the printed transcripts as a guide, I went back into the Google docs and cut/pasted the circled stories of interest into one document, the First Draft, starting August 1, and completed October 22. This totaled 155 pages.

    • I began the second draft right away on October 22. I removed almost all repetitions, “like”, “you know,” “um”, etc. and began prioritizing and selecting the most effective stories.

• Nov 4-6: Auditions. Production meetings begin with director Marcella Kearns.

  • • I am also participating as scenic designer for the production. Marcella and I decide to situate the audience onstage with the set, in order to create a more intimate experience.

    • Marcella was given the first draft just before auditions. We cast students Ashley Veltman, Elizabeth Henry, Sophie Michalski, Caitlin Preuss, Ella Spoelstra, Daejah Hawthorne, Natalie Lall, Rayven Craft, and Anamaria Palomarez.

    • Further drafts: over the course of the next months until the beginning of rehearsals on January 14, eight further drafts were written. A total of 100 pages had been cut by January 14. Eighth draft: 55 pages.

    • My wife Jennifer became my editor during this time and assisted me in the trimming of the script to its final form, as well as selecting the most impactful stories.

• Nov 11: Vet Night of the Arts

  • • Our fourth annual veteran fundraiser consisted of two main events:

    • First act: Emma Swain’s Voices of VOW 2019, written based on transcripts of interviews I had conducted with Larry Gums over the summer at the VOW Vet Village in Racine.

    • Second act: Welcome Back? We presented the premiere of this short two-person verbatim play featuring alumni Alex Johnson and Elodie Senetra. Based on the testimony of two Carthage student veterans, collected originally in 2017 with Lawrence Gums. The actual veteran participants were able to attend the show and see their own stories acted out.

    • Read Welcome Back? here

    • As with in previous years, we raised funds for Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin and their Tiny Homes project, inviting their residents to a catered dinner before the show.

Spring 20:

• Rehearsals Jan 14-Feb 20

  • First read: after hearing the first read on January 14, director Marcella Kearns and I identified portions of the script that could be trimmed. The running time for the reading was around 20 minutes longer than we ideally wanted. See photos here.

  • As rehearsals progressed, Marcella and the cast identified further passages to trim, and in some cases requested the replacement of certain passages that had been cut. This included moving the intermission break earlier in the script.

  • One of our participants had been interviewed previously for Afghanistan/Wisconsin, (the same person who urged me to do a piece about women in the military). I shared some of the drafts with her, and she suggested some edits of her story for clarity. I was also able to go back to her 2015 interview and find selected brief passages to pull from to help tell her story.

  • Production draft: the end result was a script of 54 pages that ran 2:10-2:15 without intermission.

  • Read the final version of Fighting For Home here.

• Performance dates: February 21-23, 27-29

• Several special events were planned around the show.

  • Special event for opening night: we held a pre-show dinner and reception for as many of our participants as could attend.

    • Lobby displays and tables: I reached out to several veteran organizations to see if they wanted to set up tables in the lobby, and several tabled on opening night as well as during other nights:

      • • • Wisconsin Department of Veteran's Affairs: State Coordinator Tiffany Koehler brought promotional materials, and their representative spoke after the show

          • Wisconsin Veterans Museum: Exhibit Coordinator Yvette Pino brought promotional materials as well as a traveling display of large-scale portraits of female veterans to display in the lobby

          • Freedom Farm for Vets: a local organization providing rural experiences to veterans as a form of therapy. They attended on multiple nights and participated in discussions after the show

          • Robert Stevens from Just Live, Inc: a local suicide prevention organization that tabled as well as participating in discussions after the show

          • Zoe Magnetta, women's veteran activist and second runner-up for Ms Veteran Wisconsin, attended the show and spoke afterwards

    • Veterans or their relatives who came to see their own stories:

      • • • Coast Guard, Navy Sonar, Seabee, Air Force Pastor, Army Cook, sister of Marine Intel

• Special event for the second night: guest speaker Eileen Rivers. With generous assistance from the Provost's Office and the Diversity/Equity/Inclusion Initiative through Prof. Michele Hanckock. USA Today online editor and Emmy winning documentarist Eileen Rivers joined us for a pre-show talk about women in the military, based on her new book Beyond The Call: 3 Women on the Front Lines in Afghanistan. She then joined us for the show and the post-show discussion.

Future activity based on the project:

Due to the nature of our consent agreement with the participants, their testimony can only be used for educational purposes. We have made the scripts of previous projects available for reading and production by other companies in the past, so long as they agree to use any funds collected to contribute to veteran service organizations.

Verbatim course: in April of 2020 we submitted a new verbatim playwriting course (THR 3020) for approval, which we received. The class will be first taught in J-Term 2022. This is the direct result of the success of our verbatim projects not only in and of themselves, but of creating connections with the broader community and fostering work across disciplines as well.