Interview with Christopher Loverro
Actor, former cop and a military vet, Christopher Loverro hails from Oakland. His theater company, Warriors for Peace Theater (WFPT), serves as a platform to bring forth cognizance about soldiers working through issues PTSD.
We choose to use Shakespeare because he is the most widely performed playwright in the world and understands war and human nature.
How did the WFPT get started and how has it progressed?
It started when I heard about actors coming from Iraq to perform at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. I thought bringing them together with American Iraq War veterans would be a way to promote healing, then after my bout with PTSD and suicide I found that the arts helped me heal and wanted to share that with other veterans.
How many people are in the company and which section of the military are they in?
We have about ten civilian and veteran members and invite others to be a part of our productions. Our current play has all four branches represented.
What made you decide to pick Julius Caesar as your inaugural show?
It has timely and relevant themes. It is a play about war and politics being performed by real war veterans.
In what ways do you think the play speaks about the soldiers today?
It covers the many themes war veterans experience: honor, loyalty, duty, standing up for what you think is right despite the costs, speaking truth to power, standing up the the bully, suicide, etc.
What made you decide to reverse the roles of male to female and vice versa?
Warriors For Peace Theatre believes in promoting diversity and supporting women in the arts. There aren’t a lot of leading roles for women and I wanted to make the statement that women can do anything men can do and often times better.
What, when and where will your next show take place?
If we get the funding, I would like to do a heavily gender bended A Few Good Men in the spring, also in the Hollywood area. I would also like to tour Julius Caesar to military bases. Later in the fall, I would like to take Vietnam veterans back to Vietnam and have them do a play with their former enemies.