Theatre challenge 10 out of 10!

The inaugural RETHiNK Theatre Challenge over the 2010 Mental Health Awareness Weekend was an incredible  success. Every performance was SOLD OUT, and around 400- 500 people re-thought their ideas, prejudices, and attitudes towards mental “illness”

The event had a fortuitous coincidence in that the 10, 10 minute plays were performed on Mental Health Awareness Day – the 10th day of the 10th Month, 2010!

Over 60 volunteer cast and crew work-shopped performances in fewer than 24 hours to pull together an incredible show of 10, 10-minute plays all aimed at destigmatising mental distress.

The four performances were given over two venues and finished with a standing-room-only gala performance at Auckland’s premier Comedy Club “The Classic”. Comedian Rob Callaghan was the master of ceremonies and he supported by some of New Zealand’s funniest, including last year’s RETHiNK Grant winner, Chris Brain, Irene Pink, Rhys Mathewson and The Improv Bandits.

Taimi Allan, who leads Mind and Body’s Like Minds, Like Mine team, says:

 “Without a doubt, this was the most exciting project I have ever been a part of. It mixed my two passions in life; performance and the promotion of mental health, and furthermore I believe it sets the benchmark for projects that seek radical social change.”

Taimi, who directed one of the plays and acted in another, helped Adam Fresco from Dramatrain and Titirangi Theatre coordinate the event by securing media attention, a documentary crew, celebrity guests, administration support, Like Minds ‘Stigma Advisors’ and promotional help.

The Titirangi Theatre and the extended Like Minds and Mental Health networks collaborated with talented amateur and professional volunteers from all over the globe who shared a passion to make a positive change.

Adam Fresco, volunteered hundreds of hours of his personal time for the cause. He says:

 “This project aimed to directly challenge taboos, myths and fictions surrounding ‘mental illness’ in an accessible, entertaining and thought-provoking manner. The beautiful thing about using theatre is that we could increase understanding, dispel misconceptions and encourage community engagement under the guise of family entertainment and have lots of fun in the process!”

Writers, actors, directors and crew came from all over the world to be a part of this event and included both the famous (Bob Baker of Dr Who, K9 and Wallace and Grommet Fame) and the unknown.

One of America’s most eminent psycho-drama specialists Dr Dan Tomasulo even flew in from New York just to attend the performance of his work Sticks and Stones.

Many of the  writers, cast and crew involved in the production had personal experience of ‘madness’ and the audience was asked if they could tell who the ‘normal’ ones were.

Over two hours, the audience was taken on an emotional rollercoaster and left feeling not only moved and inspired, but significantly changed.

One audience member wrote;

“Last night shocked me. People were on stage recounting the Looney experiences I have had and instead of being deeply ashamed like me they were laughing at them. I found it disturbing, provocative and comforting all at the same time. I find myself feeling compassion for those who are afflicted like me and disturbed by my own deep prejudices against people just like me. To finish I guess I want to thank you for the work you do around improving the quality of life for people with mental health issues. Until last night I thought the only way it was being done was to make TV ads asking for more understanding. My own ignorance is embarrassing. Keep up the good work. It’s making a difference.”

If you would like us to make the event bigger and better for next year, or even tour it to a town near you, please fill out our short feedback survey so that we can look getting sponsors onboard so we can repeat it next year.


Stay tuned to www.rethinkgrant.co.nz  for photos, comments, videos, media articles and the results of our feedback survey.

Ehara taku manu te mana takitahi engari takitui.


The team from Mind and Body Consultants Ltd - Guest bloggers

Mental Health on a Plate

Back in May we were awarded a RETHiNK Grant from Like Minds, Like Mine and Mind and Body Consultants for our What’s On Your Plate project. It’s now August and we have been running around Auckland city for the past two months, asking community members far and wide, “What’s on your plate?”

The final responses are flying in from all quarters. So far all we have told anyone is that the responses will be worked into an installation, which may involve the use of plates and other items of Kiwiana.

The final artwork will be driven by what we get after all the responses are collected.

Why this question?
It is all in honour of our latest ‘respond-response’ community arts project RETHiNK: What’s On Your Plate, which aims to reduce mental ‘illness’ related stigma and discrimination in Auckland. 

We sought responses to the question in any format, so long as they were hand-scribed. We did this because we liked the added textures of different papers and the uniqueness of the individual’s handwriting style. Reponses could be words or images, a list, a paragraph, a poem, a sentence or anything the mind could imagine. The intention was to leave the mode of responding as wide open as possible, to allow for a greater variety of responses and more interesting material.

It is our hope participants will find a sense of achievement, belonging and confidence through the act of sharing. The sharing and reading of personal stories may also work to address some of the self-stigma that people experience when they are diagnosed or experiencing difficulties.

We are not often asked what is affecting our mental health and this project wants to counteract that and get people talking. When members of the public read the stories in the final exhibition, we hope they will develop more understanding for mental health difficulties and people who experience them. 

It’s a big thing to ask someone to trust you with their private thoughts, especially when you can’t tell them exactly how those thoughts will be presented to the public.

We are always so grateful to people for taking the time to reflect upon our question and provide us with raw content for our artworks. We try to let people know we always treat responses with integrity and respect, to help them feel safer about taking part. 
 

Auckland artists Colleen Altagracia and Carolyn Milbank, Guest Bloggers