The Cell

We tell each other that torture may be necessary; a necessary evil in times of terrorism and global war. The boundaries are blurring - acceptance is spreading - and so does the fear and mistrust.

The show and the following dialogue with the audience shall facilitate the crucial process of discussion and reconciliation in Denmark and in most of the Western and Middle Eastern countries; all places where the relationship between torture and acceptance need to be articulated and talked about openly.

We follow a soldier's journey from obedient and dutiful warrior - to the doubting and critical human. We are witnessing the torture, for acceptance, for election to close their eyes to abuse, but also to the doubts, the conversation, the moral ascendancy and deliberate positions, to the insidious passive acceptance of torture and abuse, which we are witnessing.

The human story is about love and the triumph of light over darkness. It is a simple - a sharp - and an indiscreet play.

The international message and ambition of the play creates opportunities for close collaborations with relevant Danish and international collaborators.

In the "The Cell" we meet a PTSD-afflicted soldier over an evening where he is heading to veteran engagements.

His insides is in total disruption, and he struggles to maintain contact with reality, constantly disturbed by flashbacks to the time where he was on a mission and had a special task that went wrong. The soldier is drawn deeper and deeper into the series of events that led to his repatriation and diagnosis.

He was sent with his group to retrieve a Danish terrorist home to undergo trial. The soldier's group is attacked just outside where the prisoner is kept, and everyone in the group, except the soldier himself, gets killed. A snowstorm hits and makes it impossible to communicate over the radio for several days, and he's caught alone with the prisoner a deserted place in the Middle East. He is dependent on the assistance of local forces, who’s torturing the prisoner numerous times, and he is asked to just wait and remain passive. This has serious consequences, and he sits again and again all alone and isolated back with the prisoner while he waits for the help to arrive. After some time, and several confrontations with various rebel groups and local gangs, local forces move out.

The scenario does not end up as the soldier wanted, and he is left alone with disruptive questions inside:

Could he have made a difference?

Should he have made the difference?

Clik here to listen to the music from "The cell"

Collaborators

The Union "The Danish Veterans" and Theater Solaris has partnered up to create a dialogue on the subject of PTSD, with the idea of meeting the audience for a chat after the performance.

The Danish Veterans assembles Danish women and men who meet the government's criteria for the term "veteran" and who have received either an official medal or official veteran card for participation in an international operation.

Visit the webpage of The Danish Veterans HERE

The Human Rights Institute DIGNITY has entered into the cooperation to realize the play. With their efforts, we want to focus on involving more media and collaborators in order to reach a whole new audience. In addition, DIGNITY will contribute with knowledge of the Danish wars in the script development, so that the concept appears as historically correct as possible.