Home Front is an Entertainment Technology Center project that aims to bring the sense of community and empathy fostered by Theater of War Productions to an audience beyond the theater. Theater of War performs staged readings of ancient Greek plays about soldiers such as like Ajax and Philoctetes for veterans, military families, and active duty service members. Following the readings, audience members participate in moderated discussions where they may choose to share their own stories.
Due to the logistical limitations of live performance, Theater of War is currently reaching only a portion of the people who might benefit from these performances. Home Front will explore the potential of creating similar experiences outside the theater by incorporating audio recordings of Theater of War texts into a table top game. Our goal is that participants will engage with the material, and each other, through listening to audio recordings of scenes and using them to build a collective narrative. We hope to create an emotionally engaging experience that fosters connection and discussion in a new setting and can serve as a proof of concept for similar experiences.
