Arki hasn't been sleeping well. At night, he is haunted by visions of fallen bodies. Arki isn't a soldier, nor a general, nor a civilian caught in the crossfire. He loves to game. And it's all just a game, isn't it?
Aaron hasn't been sleeping well. Day and night, he is haunted by visions from his recent tour in Afghanistan. But it's all in the past, isn't it?
Sayf hasn't been sleeping well. Someone pilfered the sword from his restaurant, and he's pretty sure it's that soldier from the other night. The loud one. The rude one. The one who reminds him of all the other Australian soldiers who stormed his home back in Afghanistan.
When the firing has ended and the game closed, how long will the damage remain? Melissa Reeves' Archimedes War presents a dark and comic study of the depersonalisation of modern warfare. After trauma, how do we pause? Resume? Exit?
Winner of the Griffin Award 2016 and Finalist for the Victorian Premier's Prize for Drama 2022.
'Beautifully structured, thoughtful, cunning in the way it puts its issues before us' —Michael Brindley, Stage Whispers
MELISSA REEVES is a Melbourne playwright and screenwriter. She has written over twenty plays and won numerous awards. She has been closely associated with the Red Shed Company, and Melbourne Workers Theatre, as well as having her work performed by all the major Australian Theatre companies. Her plays include In Cahoots, The Emperor’s New Clothes (adaptation), Sweetown - winner of the Jill Blewitt Playwrights Award, The Spook, which premiered at Belvoir and was awarded the 2005 Louis Esson Prize for Drama in the Victorian Premiers Awards, and two AWGIES for best new play, Road Movie, Furious Mattress - shortlisted for two Premiers Awards, Happy Ending, An Enemy of the People, (adaptation) and Archimedes War - Shortlisted for the Victorian Premiers Award. She has co-written a number of plays including Magpie, with Richard Frankland, and Who’s afraid of the Working Class, Fever, and Anthem with Andrew Bovell, Patricia Cornelius and Christos Tsiolkas, composer-Irine Vela. Who’s afraid of the Working Class? won best play in the Queensland Literary Awards, two Awgies for best new play, and the Jill Blewitt Playwrights Award in 1999. Also, Rodeo Clown, and Caravan - co-written with Angus Cerini, Patricia Cornelius, and Wayne Macauley. Melissa also co-wrote the award winning screenplay for Blessed, based on Who’s afraid of the Working Class?
| Cast Info | 5F, 8M, (doubling available) |
| Genres | Black Comedy, Drama |
| Themes | Full length play, Political/Social themes, Large Cast |
| Audiences | Adult |
| Extent | 72 |
| Edition | First |
| Size | 137 x 210 mm |