I'll have to think about it, a reprisal! 12/12/13
To raise money for YoungMinds, a charity that promotes mental health care for young people and helps them to deal with any problems they may have, we decided to extend an idea we first had in our IB theatre class.
We staged a short play called 'i'll have to think about it' earlier in the year, as a part of our IB theatre course, which focused on a mental health hospital for young people and the corrupt nurses, who were portrayed in a Brechtian manner as an almost hiveminded machine. I wrote the script and played the character of OCD.
We decided to expand on the script and flesh out characters, and develop more sophisticated staging and lighting in order to explore the idea of trying something new and engaging with the arts. We wanted to not only created a piece of theatre that would raise money, but also one that would communicate with people are own age, and encourage them to confront and discuss their issues, however severe. The performance preparation was a long process, spanning hour long rehearsals everyday in the two weeks leading up to performance after school, and many hours spent revising the script and learning lines/developing my role. Organisation and set up of the studio and advertisements/tickets was also laborious, but we delegated tasks to ensure everything was completed efficiently. However, after a packed audience and positive reception, we felt we had done the cause justice. As a group we managed to raise £120 from the evening.
The slogan of YoungMinds is 'Define Normal', a phrase that encapsulates what we were trying to say with our piece. It really got me thinking about my own childhood OCD, and how acting in a play discussing the issue really helped me step back and look at any problems I have had with mental health from another perspective. By working with the director and cast, I felt I had seen a side to OCD that I previously hadn't, and it has certainly helped me realise when I lapse into any ritualistic behaviour still present from the more extreme variant of the condition I had when I was younger.
I also got me thinking about the nature of mental illness, and how through my adult life, I am going to attempt to prevent any type of stigmatisation or prejudice towards those with problems beyond their control and try my hardest to encourage others to do the same. We had to consider any ethical implications relevant when portrayal characters with mental illness, for instance, we didn't want to offend anyone in the audience who may have suffered from the illnesses we explore, and therefore tried our utmost to deliver accurate and fair representations of the illnesses in a way that served our story.
All in all, I think we managed to succeed in making a difference, however small, and working together to create something we were proud of.
Oliver de Montfalcon - 24 January 2014 (written about an event that took place on 12 December 2013)
The picture attached to this post is of me performing in the play, showing a typical symptom of OCD, impuslive behaviour, much like I did in our original performance, but developed to a greater degree.