Shakespeare with Veterans 2020-2021

Military veterans need a unit to belong to, and they want a mission to pursue. Kentucky Shakespeare’s Shakespeare with Veterans program provides both. YOU can be a part of these veterans’ healing journey with a financial donation today!

Kentucky Shakespeare, a not-for-profit 501c3 charitable organization, seeks assistance to fund the Shakespeare with Veterans program for the 2020-2021 season.  A crowd-funding campaign enabled us to launch this program four years ago, and we're delighted to report that the program has since achieved worldwide recognition - featured on BBC WorldWide, NPR, and in Stars and Stripes, the Huffington Post, and Guideposts.  In this trying time of social distance and financial distress, we’ve adjusted our meeting strategies and near-term goals. With your help, we can continue to lift up and inspire more veterans and their families, and reach more civilians through our work, online!

This year, we’re launching a new digital project: Veteran Stories from Shakespeare, in which members will link a story from their time in the service to a piece of Shakespeare’s text. We’ll film each member separately and compile the footage into an online offering to be released on Veterans Day 2020. Your donation today will cover the needs of this project as well as our continued meetings and outreach. As a 2020-2021 Shakespeare with Veterans donor, you’ll be the first to receive a link to the special performance this fall, before it is released to the public.

WHAT is it?

Shakespeare with Veterans is a program of Kentucky Shakespeare that is free to participants. They're a unit outside of the military, and they're an acting ensemble. We meet every Thursday to discuss pieces of Shakespearean text and tell stories – war stories, life stories, family stories. They’ve shared personal triumphs and tragedies, and the group truly depends on each other. New veteran participants are always welcome, and there is no barrier to entry. All you have to do is show up!

In addition to all that, Shakespeare with Veterans has become a true performance ensemble. With the instruction of Amy Attaway, Associate Artistic Director of Kentucky Shakespeare, they learn acting and ensemble techniques while gaining an appreciation of Shakespeare and how his works speak to the universal human experience, in wartime and in every aspect of our lives.

Before this pandemic swept down upon us, the group regularly performed on the Central Park stage and in many venues around Louisville and beyond. Since March this year, we’re been meeting online and occasionally in the park where we can safely maintain social distance. 

"We're all warriors - whether it's the Vikings, or Shakespeare's time, or us. The warrior's heart is the same." - US Army veteran, Vietnam

"This group has helped me gain control over what my emotions do. It’s also helped me relate to civilians better.”  - US Navy veteran, Vietnam

"We have genuine human connections, and it's so easy. [When we're performing] we don't know what's going to happen and THAT'S OKAY. We're not going to analyze each other." - US Army veteran of the Cold War era

WHO is it?

The current group consists of women and men who are veterans of the US Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, representing conflicts from Vietnam to today, with former ranks from Specialist to Brigadier General. Most deployed during conflict, and most have some form of PTSD or moral injury. ALL veterans are welcome to participate. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, this program offered at no cost to participants.

"This group is accepting and I feel comfortable here. While we're here we don't feel like we're broken. We know these are normal reactions to experiences we've had." - Indiana Army Reserves soldier 

"We can just let our guard down here. Shakespeare pushes things to the surface that we need to deal with." - US Air Force veteran, Operation Desert Storm

"I thought I was an island, but we all have similar feelings." - US Army veteran, Iraq 

"This group is like a trust fall… It's been 13 years since I left the service and this is the first time a group has worked for me." – US Army veteran, Afghanistan

www.kyshakespeare.com/vets

Donor Benefits

100% of your donations go toward sustaining this group and funding our performances and outreach. The link below outlines all the benefits of being a Kentucky Shakespeare donor, ranging from playbill inclusion to VIP access and beyond. In addition, Shakespeare with Veterans 2020-2021 program donors will be first to experience the upcoming digital performance and production through a private link, before it is released to the general public.

https://kyshakespeare.com/get-involved/donate-2/