A Shakespearean theatre company is helping veterans overcome mental trauma after their military service.
The Combat Veteran Players, made up of former servicemen and women, is helping veterans to discover their talents and find their voices.
Former serviceman Androcles Scicluna said the theatre company has made the last few years “the best time” of his life. Mr Scicluna, who was nicknamed “The Maltese Pavarotti” during his time as an entertainer while serving in the British Army, struggled with depression after leaving.
He found the Combat Veteran Players through the charity Combat Stress, and has performed in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Old Vic Tunnels, as well as Henry V.
The 65-year-old joined the Royal Corps of Signals in the summer of 1975 and trained to become a telegraphist. “I was also an entertainer at the same time — I would entertain the troops in Germany,” he said. His singing earned him the comparison with the late opera singer Luciano Pavarotti.
Mr Scicluna left the Army in December 1979, but found it difficult to deal with life at home. While he was given a council house with his wife and three children, he recalled: “I couldn’t cope. I was still military, obsessed with everything being in the right place.” One day he walked out and slept rough for a time before securing a council house of his own.
It was not the first time he had been homeless in London, and he said his second period on the streets was “not as bad” as before. “When you get older, you get craftier. It was about survival,” he recalled.
He spent his nights sleeping in doorways in Soho or in parks, and was forced to steal food. He was in contact with his family, but kept his situation a secret. “I was too proud to tell them what was happening. We love each other very much, but because of my obsession it was safer to be on my own,” he said.
Mr Scicluna said that after leaving the Army he “almost went into hibernation, not speaking to anyone”. But three years ago he made contact with Combat Stress, the veterans’ mental health charity.
Staff there encouraged him to get involved with Stoll, which provides housing and support to vulnerable and disabled ex-servicemen and women.
He is now working full time as a tour guide at The Poppy Factory in Richmond, which has already featured in The Evening Standard’s appeal. “What I lost during those previous years, I have gained now,” he said.
His first role with the Combat Veteran Players was as Theseus, the Duke of Athens, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Old Vic Tunnels.
Instead of an opening speech, the director drew on his singing experience and opened the play with Nessun Dorma, which was famously sung by Pavarotti. The following production was Henry V, and Mr Scicluna played a series of different parts including the chorus, the French King and the title character.
“Joining the players has been so helpful,” he said. “It brought that character out of me. It’s a great improvement.
“The last three years are much better than the rest of the years of my life. It is great. Not just being helped, but the feeling of now helping others.”
ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, one of the charities at the heart of the Standard’s Homeless Veterans campaign, has given Combat Stress a £220,000 grant this year.
It will be spent on short stay clinical treatment, an intensive post-traumatic stress disorder treatment programme and outreach services.
