Frank and his vet mates try group therapy, designed to help them understand and counter PTSD. It’s a rough ride but they still have a sense of humour, black though it may be.

Foxholes of the Mind dramatically takes audiences on a roller-coaster ride as they look into the lives of Vietnam veteran Frank and his wife Trish, 30 years after the war.

Frank and his mates are finally cracking under the strain of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) while Trish’s life is at rock bottom as she treads on eggshells and the façade of her marriage is stripped bare.

Through their simple, suburban story they reveal how war and its long-term fall-out have shaped and distorted not only Frank and Trish’s life, but those nearest and dearest to them.

There is nothing wrong with Frank that a beer won’t fix, but in a state of denial, he grudgingly agrees to participate in a PTSD group therapy program.

There he is joined by fellow diggers including Nigel, a decorated veteran from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, who to his surprise, has much in common with his older warrior brothers.

With the help of the group therapy program Frank begins to see himself in a different light and understand the terrible hurt his mental illness has caused, but is it too late as Trish is faced with a fearful life-changing decision?

Punctuated with tragedy, a twisting plot and black humour, Foxholes of the Mind is a message of hope and strength – a key ingredient that can assist veterans and family members to have the courage to step forward and seek help.

Foxholes of the Mind is on a national tour being performed in SA, ACT, TAS and NSW, funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services.

The play is directed by Wolf Heidecker and produced by Victorian production company, WHAM on behalf of the Geelong Sub-Branch of the Vietnam Veterans’ Association of Australia.

The cast includes Joanne Davis, Peter Finlay, Adrian Mulraney, Maureen Hartley, Victor Gralak and David Lih. Lighting and Sound Design is by Richard Lyford-Pike and Stage Management by Natulie Moffatt.