American service members who've used acting to heal war wounds will team up with their British counterparts Wednesday as part of a free Shakespeare performance in the nation's capital.

"The Comedy of Errors," featuring a U.S.-U.K. cast pulled from the Combat Veteran Players, will be performed at the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Lansburgh Theatre. Tickets for the 7 p.m. show are free but can be reserved in advance.

The British version of CVP was founded in 2009 and has received awards both for its work in the theater and for its mission to help veterans work through mental-health issues. The U.S. version followed a few years later, with its debut performance, also "The Comedy of Errors," taking place in July of this year.

Wednesday's show will mark the first combined effort for the groups. In addition to CVP-UK performers crossing the pond, two members of the Royal Shakespeare Company will make the trip to hold workshops with the cast, according to a CVP news release announcing the show.

"Working in the theater here is the closest feeling to the camaraderie we had," in service, medically retired U.S. Marine Sgt. Jack Eubanks said in the release. "In a military squad, [you] have to depend on each other. … Here it is the same on stage, other people depend on you."

The play features two sets of identical twins who become separated and suffer through a series of mistaken-identity misadventures. Its one of the first of Shakespeare's plays to have been produced, according to the Shakespeare Theatre Company, with the earliest known staging in 1594.

About Kevin Lilley

Kevin Lilley is the features editor of Military Times.

Share:
In Other News
Load More