The Theatre of War Project
The story of Philoctetes, dealing with the wounded man and the interwoven relationships with others, has been frequently noted. In 2005 Bryan Doerries, writer and director, began a series of readings of the play in the New York City area, noting the reactions of the audience to the reading, especially related to the reactions of audience members to the interaction of the suffering soldier and the conflicted caregiver. The project revolves around presenting such readings, especially to audiences of medical professionals and students.
A number of readings were followed by a panel discussion about doctor-patient relationships, involving presenters in psychiatry, physicians, and military medical personnel.[4]
The concept has also been extended to training of medical students, such as a presentation also in 2007 to the first year medical class at Weill Medical College of Cornell University.[5]
In 2008, at a conference dedicated to finding new ways to help US Marines recover from post-traumatic stress and other disorders after serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, four New York actors presented a dramatic reading from Philoctetes and Ajax.[6]
Fictional adaptations
- Philoctetes also figures in Les Aventures de Télémaque (1699) by François Fénelon.
- The Cure at Troy by Seamus Heaney, based on Philoctetes
- Neutral Ground by Tom Stoppard, loosely based on Philoctetes (as stated in the introduction to Stoppard's collected television plays).
- The Man in the Maze by Robert Silverberg, a retelling of the play in a science fictional idiom.
- Heracles' Bow (short story) by Madeline Miller
- New Amsterdam (2018 TV series) season 2 episode 7 2019 episode Good Soldiers
- Paradise by Kae Tempest, performed at the Royal National Theatre in London in 2021
