As a human services worker intricately involved with Combat Veterans for the past 46 years, and being a veteran myself, I found the play ‘Occupied Territories’ to be an extremely valuable experience for opening up discussions about the effects of war on combatants and their family members across generations, and even beyond to the communities where they live. Conventional wisdom says that individual life experiences have an impact upon how we define life and that we bring those parts of ourselves into everything we do. The play connects the audience with a dimension of human experience—war—like nothing I have experienced before. The play shows how the effects of war have impacted one family. There is a story for every person who has been to war, been closely associated with war, or has a significant other who has experienced war. It is truly astonishing when one begins to comprehend how far reaching the effects of war has had on our society. ‘Occupied Territories’ cracks open a window into this reality, making it possible for the healing process to begin.
– Tom Bennett, LMHC
Associate Executive Director, Island Counselling Services, Martha’s Vineyard