Podcast appearances and mentions of stephan wolfert

John O'Leary does it again - heck, he does it with every one of his shows, he brings so much value to others with each and every one of his podcasts.  This one is a big time difference maker where he interviews Stephan Wolfert.  His story is remarkable for sure and it's amazing how theater, specifically Shakespeare comes to the rescue for him and so many other people.  Helping people through trauma is something that so many people need & this is a great place to start.   This is a must listen to - find it HERE.     Find out more in the show notes of this episode in the show notes.   Thanks for listening.  Please take a few moments to subscribe & share this with someone, also leave a 5 Star rating on Apple Podcasts and ITunes or other services where you find this show.  Find me on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/coachtoexpectsuccess/   on Twitter:  @coachtosuccess   and on Instagram at:  @coachjohndaly  - My YouTube Channel is at: Coach John Daly.   Email me at: CoachJohnDalyPodcast@gmail.com     You can also head on over to https://www.coachtoexpectsuccess.com/ and get in touch with me there on my homepage along with checking out my Top Book list too.  Other things there on my site are being worked on too.

When Stephan Wolfert was 24 years old, he found himself at a crossroad. After serving as a medic and infantry officer in the US Army, Stephan's lifetime of grief and trauma became overwhelming. Drunk and suicidal, Stephan wandered into a random theatre's production of “Richard: III” where his life was transformed when he recognized himself as a misfit like the main character. After choosing to leave the service, Stephan began examining Shakespeare from a military veteran's perspective, working with fellow military veterans and scientists, and using Shakespeare's text and classical actor training to heal trauma and to aid in the transition from military service back into life as a civilian. Today, Stephan powerfully shares his story in order to broaden the understanding of PTSD and other mental health challenges faced by our veterans through his theatre-therapy network DE-CRUIT. My friends, if you or someone you love is seeking to understand trauma and how to start coming back from it, this conversation is for you.

In this episode, American military veteran Stephan Wolfert relates the story of how Hamlet's soliloquy saved his life when he was at his lowest point. Stephan now runs an organisation which uses Shakespearean monologues to help other veterans cope with their trauma. The episode also features Professor Alisha Ali. The reading is by Emma Fielding You can find out more about DE-CRUIT here: https://www.decruit.org/ This episode features discussion of suicide.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;Or close the wall up with our English dead.King Henry, Henry V, Act 3, Scene 1Shakespeare did write a ton about love, but he also wrote a TON about war - people going to war, people coming back from war, people in the middle of a war... whew!In today's episode, we examine the oh so masculine art of war.  We're sending you strength, Ukraine!!!(NOTE: Also, Lisa Ann's sound SUCKS on this recording - we're so sorry and we'll fix it!!!)To learn more about Stephan Wolfert and "Cry Havoc:"https://www.decruit.orgTo listen to The Scuttlebutt and learn more about Veterans Breakfast Club and Shaun Hall:https://veteransbreakfastclub.orgTo send us an email - please do, we want to hear from you!!! - write us at: thebardcastyoudick@gmail.com To support us (by giving us money - per episode if you like!)...On Patreon, go here:  https://www.patreon.com/user?u=35662364&fan_landing=trueOr on Paypal:https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=8KTK7CATJSRYJTo visit our website, go here:https://www.thebardcastyoudick.comTo donate to an awesome charity, go here:https://actorsfund.org/help-our-entertainment-communiity-covid-19-emergency-reliefLike us? Leave us a five-star rating AND a review wherever you get your podcasts!!Episode Sources:Years and years of experience with Shakespeare from two rather opinionated theatre professionals, you dicks!!!!  And cunts. (Owen insisted we add this.)BUT ALSO, specifically:The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and War: edited by David Loewenstein and Paul Stevens, Cambridge University Press 2021Many, many other books! And the inter webs :) 

My guest this week was Stephan Wolfert. Stephan left a career in the military for a life in the theatre after seeing Shakespeare's Richard III. Stephan Received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Trinity Repertory Conservatory in Providence, Rhode Island. On Broadway, Stephan created and directed the military segments for Twyla Tharp & Billy Joel's Tony-Award winning production Movin' Out and a character coach for Cirque du Soleil's, Mystere. He also co-created a touring Shakespeare Company for Trinity Rep Company, directed and taught acting Shakespeare at Cornell University and at Antelope Valley College. Currently, Stephan is based out of NYC where he is an actor and the Director of Veterans Outreach for the critically-acclaimed, award-winning off-Broadway company Bedlam. He is also the creator of https://www.decruit.org/ (DE-CRUIT®)–a program to reintegrate military Veterans using Shakespeare, psychology and classical actor training. For more than a decade Stephan has worked with two Native American theater companies: Native Voices in Los Angeles and Native Earth in Toronto, Canada. Stephan was also the Founding Artistic Director for: Shakespeare & Veterans, and the Veterans Center for the Performing Arts (V.C.P.A.) in Los Angeles. For his work with Shakespeare & Veterans, Stephan has received a certificate of appreciation from the City Council of Los Angeles, presented by fellow veteran and councilman the late Bill Rosendahl. He has been published in the fields of art and science for his work, and is also a member of the NYU think tank PACH (Project for the Advancement of our Common Humanity). As an actor Stephan continues to perform his critically-acclaimed, award-winning, one-man show CRY HAVOC off-Broadway, nationally and internationally. His most recent off-Broadway productions for Bedlam were The Seagull, Sense & Sensibility, Hamlet and Saint Joan. His favorite Shakespeare roles performed include: Richard III, Richard III; Pericles, Pericles; Petruchio, Taming of the Shrew; Antony, Antony & Cleopatra; Cassio, Iago, Othello; Leontes, Polixenes, The Winter's Tale; Antonio, Measure for Measure; Cassius, Julius Caesar; Mercutio, Paris, Friar Lawrence, Romeo & Juliet; Andrew Aguecheek, Orsino, Twelfth Night. His favorite Shakespeare plays he has directed are: Twelfth Night, Macbeth, Coriolanus, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, and an all-female production of Henry V. Follow Stephan https://www.instagram.com/decruitvets/ (here). Learn more about De-Cruit https://www.decruit.org/ (here).

Cathy A. Malchiodi, PhD, holds a doctorate in Psychology with a specialization in research and health psychology and is a clinical mental health counselor, expressive arts therapist, and art therapist who has spent over 30 years working with individuals with traumatic stress and studying how the arts support reparation, integration, and recovery from trauma. She is the founder and executive director of the Trauma-Informed Practices and Expressive Arts Therapy Institute that trains mental health and health care practitioners in medical, educational, and community settings and assists in disaster relief and humanitarian efforts throughout the world. Playwright and actor Stephan Wolfert, is a US Army, '86-'93, Medic & Infantry Officer who left a career in the military for a life in the theatre after seeing Shakespeare's Richard III. He received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Trinity Repertory Conservatory in Providence, Rhode Island. Stephan created the award-winning non-profit, DE-CRUIT, treating trauma through Shakespeare and Science and continues to tour his critically acclaimed show, Cry Havoc, around the US and Europe. Connect with Cathy at cathymalchiodi.com Connect with Stephan at www.decruit.org --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/artsforthehealthofit/support

Do you have a passage from Shakespeare that you return to in difficult times? Is there a sonnet or soliloquy you keep coming back to for comfort or wisdom? This episode of Shakespeare Unlimited will be a little different. We sat down with the Folger’s director, Michael Witmore, and his predecessor in that office, Director Emerita Gail Kern Paster, to talk about the bits of Shakespeare that bring them solace. We also reached out to a few friends of the podcast and asked them to share a little Shakespeare with us. In the 52 minutes traffic of our episode, you’ll hear from Molly Booth, Ian Doescher, Lauren Gunderson, Keith Hamilton-Cobb, Derek Jacobi, Iqbal Khan, Fran Kranz, Ryan North, James Shapiro, Paul Werstine, Casey Wilder Mott, and Stephan Wolfert about the words they’ve been pondering in these troubling times. We hope you'll take some solace in those words too.  From our Shakespeare Unlimited podcast. Published April 28, 2020. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This podcast episode, “One Thing to Rejoice and Solace In” was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster. Ben Lauer is the web producer.

William Shakespeare wrote about war and its impact on soldiers hundreds of years before the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. For a former Army officer the words clicked in a way no other treatment has in all these years. Homefront host Craig McKee sits down with Stephan Wolfert to talk about the power of Shakespeare's words in helping veterans with post-traumatic stress.

Stephan Wolfert had been in the army for six years when he saw his close friend killed during a training exercise. Wolfert “lost it,” as he put it, hopped a train, and went on a drinking binge that lasted quite a while. He ended up in Montana and wandered into a theater where Richard III was being performed. Wolfert saw in the title character a veteran like himself who did not fit in and who spoke directly and eloquently to the audience about his anger and contempt for those that did. Wolfert’s life was transformed. He left the army, went to graduate school to study acting, and immersed himself in Shakespeare. He quickly saw that Shakespeare populated his plays with soldiers and veterans who faced their own bloody losses and seemed to speak directly to the trauma Wolfert was facing. Believing that Shakespeare and theater could be as transformative for others as it is for him, he began working with veterans using Shakespeare to help them unpack their own experiences. He eventually started the non-profit DE-CRUIT whose basic premise is theater is medicine and Shakespeare can be the key to healing. In this podcast, Stephan talks about his time in the military, his “Aha!” moment in Montana, how Shakespeare helps veterans both penetrate and contain their own experiences, and the unlikely parallels between theater and the military.

Stephan Wolfert had been in the army for six years when he saw his close friend killed during a training exercise. Wolfert “lost it,” as he put it, hopped a train, and went on a drinking binge that lasted quite a while. He ended up in Montana and wandered into a theater where Richard III was being performed. Wolfert saw in the title character a veteran like himself who did not fit in and who spoke directly and eloquently to the audience about his anger and contempt for those that did. Wolfert's life was transformed. He left the army, went to graduate school to study acting, and immersed himself in Shakespeare. He quickly saw that Shakespeare populated his plays with soldiers and veterans who faced their own bloody losses and seemed to speak directly to the trauma Wolfert was facing. Believing that Shakespeare and theater could be as transformative for others as it is for him, he began working with veterans using Shakespeare to help them unpack their own experiences. He eventually started the non-profit DE-CRUIT whose basic premise is theater is medicine and Shakespeare can be the key to healing. In this podcast, Stephan talks about his time in the military, his “Aha!” moment in Montana, how Shakespeare helps veterans both penetrate and contain their own experiences, and the unlikely parallels between theater and the military.

Stephan Wolfert had been in the army for six years when he saw his close friend killed during a training exercise. Wolfert “lost it,” as he put it, hopped a train, and went on a drinking binge that lasted quite a while. He ended up in Montana and wandered into a theater where Richard III was being performed. Wolfert saw in the title character a veteran like himself who did not fit in and who spoke directly and eloquently to the audience about his anger and contempt for those that did. Wolfert’s life was transformed. He left the army, went to graduate school to study acting, and immersed himself in Shakespeare. He quickly saw that Shakespeare populated his plays with soldiers and veterans who faced their own bloody losses and seemed to speak directly to the trauma Wolfert was facing. Believing that Shakespeare and theater could be as transformative for others as it is for him, he began working with veterans using Shakespeare to help them unpack their own experiences. He eventually started the non-profit DE-CRUIT whose basic premise is theater is medicine and Shakespeare can be the key to healing. In this podcast, Stephan talks about his time in the military, his “Aha!” moment in Montana, how Shakespeare helps veterans both penetrate and contain their own experiences, and the unlikely parallels between theater and the military.

Stephan Wolfert had been in the army for six years when he saw his close friend killed during a training exercise. Wolfert “lost it,” as he put it, hopped a train, and went on a drinking binge that lasted quite a while. He ended up in Montana and wandered into a theater where Richard III was being performed. Wolfert saw in the title character a veteran like himself who did not fit in and who spoke directly and eloquently to the audience about his anger and contempt for those that did. Wolfert’s life was transformed. He left the army, went to graduate school to study acting, and immersed himself in Shakespeare. He quickly saw that Shakespeare populated his plays with soldiers and veterans who faced their own bloody losses and seemed to speak directly to the trauma Wolfert was facing. Believing that Shakespeare and theater could be as transformative for others as it is for him, he began working with veterans using Shakespeare to help them unpack their own experiences. He eventually started the non-profit DE-CRUIT whose basic premise is theater is medicine and Shakespeare can be the key to healing. In this podcast, Stephan talks about his time in the military, his “Aha!” moment in Montana, how Shakespeare helps veterans both penetrate and contain their own experiences, and the unlikely parallels between theater and the military.

Veteran Stephan Wolfert was working with the famous choreographer Twyla Tharp when she said something that clarified everything.  We talk about his time in the Army, how he became an actor, his work with veterans through DE-CRUIT, and the scientific proof that Shakespeare and theater are the keys to healing trauma.  Additional Resources DE-CRUIT DE-CRUIT: science publications  Cry Havoc, solo performance by Stephan Wolfert

Robin Ludwig (author, poet, and closet Shakespearean) has taught literature and writing in TX and the UK. She has served in the USAF since 2002. She’s passionate about DeCruit, a veteran nonprofit that incorporates theatre, Shakespeare, and science. You will hear Robin talk a lot about DeCruit and Stephan Wolfert. If, after you listen to this episode, you want to hear more about Stephan's story, just click here to go to his episode of the podcast. You can follow Robin on Twitter. Her handle is @robin_renae, and as she mentions in the interview you can also connect with her in the VAP Community

We don’t always talk about the things that scare us most. First, Ally Harpootlian's grandmother Betty kept a secret life of poetry locked away. Then, a whole new way to look at Shakespeare - and his relationship to war. Stephan Wolfert tells Laicie how he helps veterans open up and talk.

In his one-man show "Cry Havoc!" actor Stephan Wolfert, a US Army veteran, draws together lines in Shakespeare’s plays spoken by soldiers and former soldiers—including Macbeth, Othello, and Richard III. He puts those words to the task of explaining the toll that soldiering and war can take on the psyches of the men and women who volunteer for military duty. He is interviewed by Barbara Bogaev. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. Published September 5, 2017. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This episode, “To the Battle Came He,” was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Esther French is the web producer. We had help from Beth Emelson, Associate Artistic Producer of Folger Theatre; Eric Tucker, Artistic Director of Bedlam; Melissa Kuypers at NPR-West in Culver City, California; and from Ray Cruz at Hawaii Public Radio.

Stephan Wolfert was one of the first people I called when I founded VAP and has continued to be a friend and mentor. Stefan served as a medic and infantry officer in the US Army and is currently the Head of Outreach at Bedlam Theatre in NYC and the creator of DE-CRUIT: a program to reintegrate military Veterans using classical actor training.

Some Americans wish that veterans could be seen and not heard, preferably not even seen, because it makes them too uncomfortable. But the critically acclaimed Veterans Center for the Performing Arts is changing all this by giving veterans a voice, a stage and an audience. Want to be shocked and inspired? Listen to today's guests – all veterans: Stephan Wolfert, Founding Creator/Director of VCPA, and actors Ranje Delphin and Joey Pate.