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A BRAVE FACE<br />
<strong>No</strong> Words, Just A Story<br />
That Needs To Be Told<br />
Vamos <strong>The</strong>atre, the UK’s leading full mask<br />
theatre company, opens its new production<br />
A Brave Face at the London International<br />
Mime Festival before extensive UK tour.<br />
For over two years, Vamos <strong>The</strong>atre has collaborated<br />
with Veterans, serving personnel, military<br />
families and health professionals in the<br />
making of A Brave Face, a full mask theatre<br />
production that will tour the UK and Europe in<br />
2018. <strong>The</strong> result is an honest and hugely compelling<br />
piece of theatre inspired by the hidden<br />
stories and personal journeys of those affected<br />
by, and connected with, Post Traumatic Stress<br />
in the military.<br />
From the mud and mustard gas of World War<br />
One to the desert sands and IEDs of<br />
Afghanistan (where A Brave Face is set), the<br />
psychological effects of war have long been<br />
evident. And whilst an understanding of the<br />
mental trauma now known as Post-Traumatic<br />
Stress (PTS or PTSD) has progressed since the<br />
days when shell-shocked soldiers were categorised<br />
as ‘nervous’, support for Veterans living<br />
with PTS is still hugely under-resourced in the<br />
UK.<br />
Working in a co-production with <strong>The</strong> Mercury<br />
<strong>The</strong>atre, Colchester, Vamos <strong>The</strong>atre aims to<br />
create a better understanding of PTS and, crucially,<br />
encourage coordinated support for those<br />
who live with it. <strong>The</strong> company has based the<br />
production on the real-life experiences of those<br />
affected, a technique for which they have<br />
gained a strong reputation over their ten year<br />
history, previously tackling issues such as<br />
dementia and forced adoption. Artistic Director<br />
Rachael Savage has been at the forefront of<br />
the research, which has seen her meeting not<br />
only Veterans, but their families, serving personnel,<br />
and organisations and professionals<br />
who support those living with PTS.<br />
Rachael comments, “We want A Brave Face to<br />
show honestly what PTS is and can mean to<br />
soldiers and to their families, who often find<br />
themselves on the frontline in coping with the<br />
condition: they deal with the trauma, as well as<br />
instability, social isolation, loneliness - often<br />
with no support. <strong>The</strong> input of those who have<br />
helped us make the show has been invaluable<br />
- at every stage their generosity continues to be<br />
extraordinary, particularly those for whom discussing<br />
PTS can be in itself traumatic.”<br />
Consultants on the production include veterans<br />
of Afghanistan, Iraq and <strong>No</strong>rthern Ireland, as<br />
well as organisations at the forefront of PTS<br />
support, such as Help for Heroes, Veterans<br />
First and the pioneering Recovery Centre,<br />
Chavasse VC House, many of whom are leading<br />
the way in instigating new approaches to<br />
healing psychological injury.<br />
<strong>The</strong> production was initially inspired by journalist<br />
and author Matthew Green’s book<br />
Aftershock, which explores the first-hand experience<br />
of war trauma, and Matthew has also<br />
helped the company in their research. A Brave<br />
| 14 www.sandbagtimes.co.uk
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