Acting ignites passion, reinforces connection for service members, veterans

Photo By Daniel Ashley | Sydney Davis (left) and Sgt. Maj. Raymond Smith perform William Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors” at Wallace Theater, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, July 13. The performance is part of a special theater arts program for wounded, ill, and injured service members and veterans recovering in the National Capital Region. (Video screen shot by Dan Ashley, Regional Health Command-Atlantic).  

FORT BELVOIR, VA, UNITED STATES

08.10.2016

Story by Gigail Cureton 

U.S. Army Medical Readiness Command, East

FORT BELVOIR, Virginia--The sounds coming from the room near Sydney Davis’ art class captured her curiosity.

“There was this group of people doing weird stuff. I wondered what they were doing.”

The cat meows, shouts, exaggerated body movements, and other “weird stuff” were a series of acting exercises. The people participating were wounded, ill, and injured Soldiers and veterans just like her.

Soldiers assigned to the Warrior Transition Brigade-National Capital Region at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and Naval Support Activity-Bethesda, Maryland, have a recovery process that can sometimes take months or even years. Other programs are available in an effort to expose Soldiers to new hobbies, athletic and academic pursuits, or career interests and to have fun, according to Katherine Bentley, Warrior Transition Brigade Physical Therapist and Adaptive Reconditioning Team Lead.

“I dive into a lot of things that help me with my recovery like sports,” said Davis, an Army veteran who has won several medals in the Department of Defense Warrior Games, an athletic competition for wounded, ill, and injured service members, and recently discharged and retired veterans. “It (acting) has a lot of similarities to sports in the camaraderie that we have with each other.”
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Unlike the novice actor Davis, Sgt. Maj. Raymond Baxter Smith, a 10-year member of the Screen Actors Guild, has appeared in both film and television. He had small movie roles and appeared in an episode of Law and Order, among others. Yet, he agrees with Davis about the camaraderie. “We depend on each other to make the scene work successfully and that is a good thing.”

Despite his acting experience, he was reluctant to get involved in the acting program. He credits his 12 cast mates and the play’s director for helping to reunite his passion for acting.

“I wasn’t motivated to do a lot and was looking for something to do,” said Smith. “I originally just wanted to sit and observe but our director (Jaclyn Mcloughlin) highly encouraged me to participate.”

Thanks to the efforts of a British organization, members of the military community have accepted the challenge of participating in an inaugural performance of William Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors” at Fort Belvoir’s Wallace Theater in July. The play is the story of two sets of identical twins that were accidentally separated at birth.

“The language is a challenge,” Davis said of the play believed to be one of Shakespeare’s earliest. “I’ve learned a lot and the fun part is I have used that in my normal everyday speech now. I find myself saying things Shakespearian and people look at me like ‘what does that mean’”? I have to explain it to them.”
Participation in the acting program has given Davis a new outlook on the importance of moving beyond her comfort zone.

“For all those people, and that is almost everybody in the world, who have always wanted to do something but they weren’t good enough for it or at it…do it,” said Davis. “Start small, go big.”

To watch our warrior actors in action, visit the Regional Health Command-Atlantic YouTube Channel at http://goo.gl/1O9wMk

• Date Taken: 08.10.2016
• Date Posted: 08.10.2016 08:26
• Story ID: 206653
• Location: FORT BELVOIR, VA, US