Take 'Unknown' to the Edinburgh Fringe 2019!

Videography by Amelia Lozinska- Brown.

Music: Oblivion by Leah Tess. 

Supported by the University of Exeter's Alumni Annual Fund.

My Story

This project is to tell the story of my recovery from a near fatal accident and head injury. I'm very fortunate to have survived and this will show how my life has been changed by my injuries.

This is the story of my recovery, the difficulties I have faced and the support I received.

I want to take this show to Edinburgh Fringe to share my story and show that light that can be found in darkness, and to raise awareness of the impact of brain injury on the survivors lives and the lives of their loved ones.

We will be performing at Greenside, Mint Studio inside Resource Centre, Infirmary Street, from 2nd August - 14th August 2019 at 4:15PM. 

For ticket sales and regular updates please like and follow our social media pages: 

  @unknownplay

@_rise_strong_

  @unknownEdFringe

The Play

‘Unknown’ is the story of my parents and friends finding out that I had been involved in a near fatal plane accident while on my travels in Australia. I was unidentifiable until my friends arrived at the hospital where I had been taken an identified me in intensive care. My friends and parents then spent nearly two weeks waiting for me to come out of the coma I was in, unknowing if I would and, if I did, what damage would have been done. This is the story of the strength my friends and family gave one another, and me, to be able to get through this trauma.

It will explore how my life has been impacted, the struggles I have faced trying to get back to a 'normal' life after coming out of hospital.It will celebrate the strength my family and friends gave each other to get through such a difficult experience. 

The script will be take from verbatim journal entries by my family during the time I spent in a coma post-accident as well as my personal recollection. It will address the impact having sustained a severe traumatic brain injury has had on my life and my relationship and I hope it will raise awareness of ABIs (acquired brain injuries).

The play will include multimedia, physical theatre and will be based on real life event before, during and after the accident.

Previous Performances

This show will be a development from it's previous performance at my University during our Drama Department's Term 3 Festival 2018. It was well received and successfully raised money for Headway Charity (to support brain injury survivors). We will be showing a Fringe Preview for the show at this year's (2019) Term 3 Festival as well on the 25 of May in the Drama Departments Thornlea Studios (please come if you can!). 

Reviews from this show will be uploaded here and on our social media pages: 

Clark Baim (M.Ed., BPA, UKCP and Co-Director of the Birmingham Institute for Psychodrama) :

'Unknown powerfully captures the fear, the bewilderment and the long process of recovery of Hannah and her family and friends in the aftermath of a tragic aircraft accident involving Hannah. Through performance integrating dialogue, song, dance-movement, video and other media, we get a visceral insight into the process from trauma through recovery. The play explores how the journey of healing the body and the soul are intricately bound up with the life-giving force of family, friendship and love. This is a brave and true story of recovery within a matrix of love, and of a protagonist who finds her steely determination when her life depends on it. We are reminded of everyday heroes, the monumental untapped potentials within us all, and the possibility that we can become stronger at the broken places.'

Where Your Money Will Go

Edinburgh shows are extremely expensive and there are lots of costs to cover, from venue hire, to publicity and marketing. There will not be a profit made from this show, instead income from ticket sales will go to Headway Charity, and Same You Charity. Therefore, 100% of your donations will go towards enabling my story to be told, and as such helping raise money for other brain injury survivors. 

A detailed breakdown of the productions income and expenditure is below: 

As you can see the Crowdfunder is not our only source of income as we have been granted money from both the University of Exeter's Cymbeline Award (to fund our Exeter preview show) and the Alumni Fund (for our Edinburgh expenses). Moreover, we have dedicated the months from February to June 2019 as fundraising for the production, working hard to raise money through events such as cake sales, cast auctions, and pub quizzes. 

Want to Know More?

I have written a blog about my recovery so far at https://wearyourscarslikewings.wordpress.com/

If you have any further questions about this crowdfunding campaign, or the production, please get in touch via the show's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/unknownplay/

Thank you so much for your time, and check out our rewards!