From Book to Docudrama

 

In the early 1980’s, Sally Hayton-Keeva began interviewing women about their experiences in war.  She had known her father’s experience in World War II, but how did she, a woman, fit into our collective war history?  

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"War seen through women’s eyes makes a different kind of war story.  I needed to know this different war story.  Did war cast shadows over women’s lives as it had my father’s?  Were there women who woke screaming in the night?"

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Sally spent five years interviewing over 60 women and eventually transcribing 38 of these women’s stories.  At the end of this task, she had 2000 pages.  From there she edited these pages into her book, Valiant Women in War and Exile.  However, she had difficulty finding a publisher; it was criticized for not having a definitive point of view on war.  Sally was not anti-war or pro-war.  To be pro-war meant to belittle Betty Bethards and her son who she lost in Vietnam.  To be anti-war meant to disrespect the story of Sara Fabri who spent a year in Auschwitz.

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The book received little recognition, and therefore few read it. Following Lanna's discovery of and connection with the book, she contacted Sally and received her permission to adapt it into a play  - Valiant.  Most of these women had never shared their stories until they spoke to Sally.  So many of them have been silent for too long - the book and now this play break their silence.  

 

The book had since been republished (2003) by Washington State University Press and references the development of the play. Copies of Valiant Women in War and Exile can be found and purchased here.