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This project successfully funded on 11th July 2023, you can still support them with a donation.
The Art of a Damaged Soul - 2024 Tour
Hastings, East Sussex, United Kingdom
Aim: An autobiographical theatre show that explores the mental health crisis through the lens of a damaged soul growing up in today's society.
I would love to introduce you to my auto-biographical, nostalgic one woman theatre show that weaves poetry, spoken word, circus, physical theatre and dark comedy. It explores the mental health crisis through the lens of a damaged soul growing up in today's society. A series of life events and birthday parties full of trauma, pressures and expectations. An adaptation from my bestselling poetry series 'The Art of a Damaged Soul'.
I have done a limited Brighton Fringe run in which it received incredible reviews, 5 stars across the board and was nominated for an award. I am not doing any other fringe festivals as I intend to take this show on a 2024 tour round schools, colleges, universities and theatres, bringing a much needed change to society & creating a mental health movement via my show. I am in the process of getting arts council funding but I also need to do some match funding. I will be using the money to pay creatives to come on tour, fund transport and accommodation and also provide workshops after the performance as well as developing the script by going into schools, colleges, universities and hearing from people that face. mental health difficulties, societal pressures and worries from the cost of living crisis.
I am an established actress represented by the BWH Agency. A spoken word artist & renowned author - both volumes of my poetry series ‘The Art of a Damaged Soul’ went to number one in Women’s Poetry and British and Irish Poetry. My album was released in April and has already surpassed 18,000 streams in the first few weeks. My work focuses on mental health and many critics and reviewers refer to me as ‘A 21st Century Sylvia Plath’ (with a safer destiny).
I hope this show inspires young people that they can be whatever and whoever they want to be, despite where they come from, their setbacks and the trauma they have faced. My books and album have been said to save a lot of people's lives and I hope my show can do the same. There is a recorded version of the show available upon request - this will be ready by mid June.
After every show there will be a discussion and a poetry, drama and spoken word workshop that explores the mental health crisis we are in, societies expectations and pressures and how we can cope with this and the rising costs of living. There will also be a paper and digital survey, to chose from, for both students and teachers to fill in (or audience members in theatres) where they can freely and safely voice their opinions and suggestions on how we help those struggling, victims of abuse, mental health battles and how we can support families, teachers, guardians and carers.
When planning the tour schedule we have taken careful time analysing the map to ensure we are being sufficient due to our carbon footprint with fuel and also to save on fuel costs. We are all willing to stay in Hostels and share rooms with the team and hire a large multi-seated vehicle. The show also discusses climate change and ways we can contribute to saving the planet as this is something I am passionate about.
Evidence of demand for this work:
It is a certified fact that we are in an extreme mental health and cost of living crisis in the UK. There is a huge lack of support and funding for social initiatives and community practises that can facilitate workshops, events, programmes and other forms of support for people experiencing mental health crisis. In my body of work I’ve received a high proportion of feedback stating this kind of work through theatre, spoken word and poetry is vital. There is a necessity for consistent creative projects and spaces due to the huge waiting list for therapy in the NHS.
Here are the latest mental health statistics covering suicide and self-harm:
- Over 700,000 people take their own life each year – that’s one person every 40 seconds (World Health Organization)
- 1 in 5 people have suicidal thoughts (NHS Digital)
- 1 in 14 people self-harm (NHS Digital)
As we continue to navigate a cost of living crisis, financial wellbeing is front of mind for many. To help you understand these effects, some most recent statistics:
- Over 1.5 million people are experiencing both problem debt and mental health problems (Money and Mental Health)
- As many as 24 million adults don’t feel confident managing their money (Money & Pensions Service) & only a third of the people in financial debt receive help
- 9 in 10 girls and young women in schools say sexist name-calling and being sent unwanted sexual harassment happens.
The highest ever number of rapes within a 12-month period was recorded by police in the year ending September 2022: 70,633. In that same time period, charges that were brought in - just 2,616 rape cases. Only 1 in 100 rapes recorded by police in 2021 resulted in a charge that same year let alone a conviction. Despite high rates of rape, charging and conviction rates remain among the lowest since records began. Survivors are facing long delays for their cases to reach court and adult cases are taking an average of more than 2 years to complete in court. There's currently a record number of sexual offence cases that are waiting to go to court: 7,859.