We spoke to Tid, director of Mental, which will be heading to EdFringe this august. For us at Silent Faces, being an integrated company of disabled and non-disabled artists, it is really important to make and support work that deals with the difficult issues surrounding mental health – so it was a real pleasure to be able to take to Kane Power Theatre about their show. See what Tid had to say about Mental below…
Tell us a bit about your show: Mental is a one man show about a mother and her son dealing with various mental health challenges including bipolar disorder. It's personal and universal. It's about family, love, and loss, and focuses on Kane's relationship to his mum both as son and as carer. It's a show that tries to create a poetic sense of the bipolar experience through music, anecdotes, and medical notes. Kane creates all the music live with his voice, a few instruments and a loop pedal, it's a hypnotic and moving experience. One reviewer said ''This heart-wrenching story both educates and entertains, leaving you more aware of the world around you', I think we all really like that description. What sort of theatre do you make? Kane Power Theatre makes meaningful & playful work that encourages audiences to think and feel. This is the first show for the company, and me, Alice, Ina, Peter, Ruby, and Hannah are all collaborators working with Kane on this show, he's the driving force behind the project and the company, and the one who brought us all together to help him tell this story. What’s the most important thing that theatre should be/do/have? Well for this show it's particularly important that it is a dedicated space to listen and share in an experience, and then as a provocation for people to talk and share their experiences. The stories that people have shared post show have been a testament to theatre's ability to engage people in meaningful experiences. What shows at the fringe are you most looking forward to? I can not wait to see TRANSLUNAR PARADISE by Theatre Ad Infinitum. Really looking forward to NO MIRACLES HERE by The Letter Room, and SCRIBBLE by Andy Edwards, directed by Amy Gilmartin. Find out more at Mental's blog. Mental is on at Assembly Roxy 2-27th August (excluding 14th and 21st) at 5.05pm Comments are closed.
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