Using Shakespeare to treat trauma: Veteran comes to Cincinnati for workshops and performances

Madeline Mitchell | Cincinnati Enquirer

Stephan Wolfert is an actor and playwright, but before his career in the theatre he served in the U.S. army.

Those like him who have suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder can be healed, he believes, through the power of Shakespeare. And he says he has the science to back it up.

Wolfert founded DE-CRUIT, a theatre company that offers free workshops for veterans, after he saw a production of Shakespeare's "Richard III." On their website, Wolfert explains that after just five classes in their program, which uses Shakespeare's text to discuss trauma, veterans saw significant reductions in PTSD symptoms and depression and improvements in self-efficacy and heart-rate coherence.

The name "DE-CRUIT" comes from the term "recruit," drawing on the idea that military personnel are often heavily recruited for war but rarely given the same attention and instruction about how to adjust when they come home.

Next week, Wolfert will come to Cincinnati to train local teaching artists and those working at Cincinnati veteran centers in his practice so that the same workshops can be offered here. During his stay Wolfert and his wife, Dawn Stern, will each perform for one night only at the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company.

The shows

"Cry Havoc!" is Stephan Wolfert's autobiographical one-man play that mixes personal stories with famous Shakespeare prose in order to dissect veteran re-entry into civilian life.

"She-Wolf" is a new work, adapted by Wolfert and his wife, that uses Shakespeare's text to tell the story of Margaret of Anjou, a character in four Shakespeare plays: "Henry VI" parts one, two and three and "Richard III." Margaret of Anjou was taken prisoner of war and ransomed off by her father before she commanded her own armies.

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The Cincinnati Shakespeare Company focuses on in-house productions and rarely brings in outside performances. But when the artistic team met Wolfert and became aware of DE-CRUIT in January at an annual theatre conference in Prague, they knew they wanted to find time to support this unique work.

"It speaks to how strongly we felt about this one," said associate artistic director Sara Clark.

DE-CRUIT is being squeezed into the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company's packed season for two nights only. "Cry Havoc!" will be performed Monday, Nov. 18 at 7:30 p.m. and "She-Wolf" will be featured Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online. Military personnel, veterans and their families may attend the performances free of charge.

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