GAMBIER — Theater of War Productions’ yearlong residency with Kenyon College continues with a virtual production of Theater of War Frontline: Knox County on Wednesday, April 7, at 7:30 p.m. This event, hosted on Zoom, is free and open to the public.
The project will present scenes from Sophocles’ “Philoctetes” in order to frame a healing, constructive discussion centered on the stories and perspectives of frontline and essential personnel in Knox County, Ohio. “Philoctetes” tells the story of a decorated warrior who is abandoned on a deserted island by his own community after contracting a chronic illness on the way to the Trojan War.
The performance will feature Mount Vernon Mayor Matthew T. Starr; Thomas S. Turgeon Professor of Drama Jonathan Tazewell, Kenyon Class of 1984; Maggie Perkins, Kenyon Class of 2020; Megan Evans; Aaron Mooreland; and Lars Hanson, Kenyon Class of 1986.
Following the performance, panelists from the Knox County community will offer their immediate responses to the performance, culminating in a guided audience discussion about the unique challenges faced by first responders, nursing home employees, food service professionals, grocery store employees, delivery professionals and other public-facing employees in Knox County during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This story resonates with frontline workers because of the sacrifices they have made in keeping business going through this past year,” Starr said. “At times, it can feel like you’re isolated working under more stress and strain. Our frontline staff in a variety of work settings have been hanging tough, but they have suffered, too.”
Theater of War Productions, co-founded by 1998 Kenyon graduate Bryan Doerries in 2009, is acclaimed for its use of live performances of ancient plays and other seminal texts to foster challenging conversations about social issues, public health and human suffering. It earned recent attention from the Washington Post and the New Yorker for programs it has created to address the traumas of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The social impact company recently announced a $1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to create a Digital Amphitheater, a hybrid physical/digital model of performance and discussion that launches April 27 with a presentation for the Nobel Prize Summit: Our Planet, Our Future.
This is the third performance of Theater of War Productions’ yearlong virtual residency at Kenyon, which opened last fall with a lecture by Doerries and an Oct. 8 performance of “Antigone in Ferguson.”
The company presented its “Book of Job Project” in December, and it will present a new project based on Sophocles’ final play, “Oedipus at Colonus,” on May 6 at 7:30 p.m.
This production is co-sponsored by Theater of War Productions, Kenyon College and the City of Mount Vernon, and it is supported in part by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. To register for this free Zoom event, visit frontlineknox.eventbrite.com.
