The next production at the Souris Valley Theatre will study the impact of war on those who served, but also the camaraderie that grew between the soldiers.
A Soldier鈥檚 War will be performed at the theatre鈥檚 Frehlick Hall on July 5 and 6. Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. each night.
Josh Ramsden, who is the producer and writer for the show, as well as one of the actors, said A Soldier鈥檚 War is based on the letters his grandfather wrote home while serving with the Canadian Army during the Second World War.
鈥淚 got all of the letters he wrote home after he passed away in 2008,鈥� said Ramsden.
The seven-actor cast includes five actors playing Canadian soldiers during the war. Their adventures start with basic training in Nova Scotia, and continue through the D-Day invasions on June 6, 1944, and their return home.
Each of the five soldiers represents a different perspective provided by Ramsden鈥檚 grandfather鈥檚 experiences.
鈥淭hrough his letters, I found that there were different perspectives or voices, and so I came up with the everyman voice and the leader voice and the lover voice and the religious voice, and extrapolated them, and built characters using those words that he had written home,鈥� said Ramsden.
He wrote A Soldier鈥檚 Voice to explore what it might have been like to be a soldier, and examine the psychological and emotional struggle. It also studies the difficulties of being away from home.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to do that around one person, because I felt, and I feel to this day, that if I write it about one particular person, I鈥檓 then suggesting war does this to everyone,鈥� said Ramsden.
鈥淢y belief is that war has the ability of affecting people in a variety of ways, and it鈥檚 important that we don鈥檛 whitewash the affects it can cause,鈥� he added later.
The show is also designed awareness of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and operational stress injury (OSI), and organizations which support those battling the mental health issues.
Strikes Twice Productions, the company that produces A Soldier鈥檚 War, has partnered with Wounded Warriors Canada, and is associated with the Canadian Mental Health Association Saskatchewan branch鈥檚 OSI Canada.
A Soldier鈥檚 War explores the effects that repeated exposure to war-time trauma may have on a person, and how that exposure may fundamentally change them.
鈥淚t showcases the potential of what experiencing repeated exposure to traumatic events can have,鈥� said Ramsden.
He hopes it will lead to conversations among the spectators after the play.
Ramsden noted A Soldier鈥檚 War was shown in Regina last year and in Saskatoon last month. Souris Valley Theatre artistic director Kenn McLeod was part of the cast for the Regina shows, but won鈥檛 be on stage in Estevan.
鈥淭he thing that caught me off guard is that people have been able to relate to it in a variety of ways,鈥� said Ramsden. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had a lot of people come who have either had parents who were in the war, or have kids who were in Afghanistan. I had a Vietnam War veteran come see it, and what they kept saying to me was they found it relatable, and they can connect to a particular character, which validated the importance of having more than one focal character.鈥�
Other people have told him that they didn鈥檛 realize the impact of PTSD or OSI for Canada鈥檚 veterans.
He鈥檚 also pleased there is now a production about PTSD and OSI that is based on the life of a Canadian and written by a Canadian. Ramsden noted many of these shows have been about Americans. 聽
